What Medical Conditions Can Affect Vision?

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While it is known that diabetes is related to vision problems like diabetic retinopathy that can lead to blindness, it is not the only disease that may impact vision and eye health.

When you visit your eye doctor in Champaign, IL, discuss with us any health concerns or medical problems you have, and let us know about the medications you take regularly.

Overall Health Can Affect Vision

Your vision can be affected by medical diagnoses, diet, lifestyle, and even seasonal allergies or weather conditions. If you experience vision changes or report eye pain, unexplained headaches, or blurry vision, we’ll work with you to determine the cause and provide the best possible solutions for your eyes and eyesight.

Causes of Vision Problems

Nearly half of all people with a visual disability are aged 65 or older, according to AARP, but serious eye problems are not necessarily related to aging.

Monitor Your Vision

Be aware of visual changes that might indicate an underlying serious condition.

Double Vision

If it disappears when you cover one eye, it could be an early sign of a stroke or aneurysm. Seek medical attention.

Eye Pain

Persistent eye pain might indicate an injury or infection. But sudden pain might also indicate a retinal tear or a detached retina that requires immediate attention.

Redness

Eye inflammation may just be a sign you’re overtired or stressed, but it can also be the first sign of a shingles infection or an inflammatory disease like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis.

Persistent Flashes or Floaters

A professional should check black dots or squiggly lines in your line of sight, particularly if they impede normal activity.

Dry or Itchy Eyes

This might indicate too much screen time. Give your eyes a rest, or try soothing eye drops.

Chronic medical conditions can affect eye health, and your primary care physician or medical specialist will no doubt recommend that you visit an eyecare professional for an assessment.

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Does Diabetes Always Lead to Blindness?

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Diabetic retinopathy is a terrible disease that can lead to impaired vision or even blindness. But just because a person has diabetes doesn’t mean this condition will always lead to developing diabetic retinopathy. If you’re concerned about the health of your eyes, you should visit your optometrist for a comprehensive eye exam in Champaign, IL. During the course of this exam, your eye doctor will look for signs of diabetic retinopathy.

How Does Diabetic Retinopathy Occur?

Diabetic retinopathy occurs when high blood sugar levels damage the blood vessels in the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. Over time, this damage can cause the blood vessels to leak fluid or bleed, leading to vision problems. In advanced stages, diabetic retinopathy can cause severe vision loss or even blindness.

Reducing the Odds of Blindness With Diabetes

There are several preventative steps that a person can take to reduce the odds of blindness with diabetes:

Manage Diabetes

If you have a diagnosis of diabetes, it’s important to manage the disease under a doctor’s care. Your eye doctor can help with vision issues, but the underlying disease of diabetes may require treatment. The worst thing you can do is ignore diabetes since managing it is key to eye health.

Regular Eye Exams

Most people require annual eye exams. But if you have diabetes, you should come in for an eye exam at least twice a year or more. This simple step helps you and your eye doctor to stay on top of developing symptoms so treatment plans can be made and implemented.

It’s important to note that diabetes can also increase the risk of other eye conditions besides diabetic retinopathy, such as cataracts and glaucoma. Like diabetic retinopathy, these conditions can lead to vision problems or blindness if left untreated. Contact your Champaign, IL eye doctor today to book an appointment.

Identifying the Different Kinds of Dry Eye

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Dry eye is a disease that affects tens of millions of people worldwide. It can occur alone or as part of another medical condition. If you are experiencing vision issues, your eye doctor in Champaign, IL, can help.

Symptoms of Dry Eye

Here is what you might be experiencing if you have dry eye.

  • Itching, burning, or stinging eyes.
  • Light sensitivity.
  • Watery eyes with excess tearing,
  • Blurred vision or other vision changes.
  • Eye mucus.

Identifying the Different Kinds of Dry Eye

There are several different kinds of dry eye in Champaign, IL. Most people think dry eye is when their eyes don’t make enough tears, but that’s not all there is to it.

  • Aqueous Deficient Dry Eye

Aqueous deficient dry eye is the kind where your eyes don’t make enough tears. This deficiency is due to reduced aqueous production from your lacrimal glands. In addition, some autoimmune conditions cause inflammation in the lacrimal glands, preventing them from producing enough aqueous tears.

  • Evaporative Dry Eye

Evaporative dry eye occurs when tears evaporate too quickly, as the name implies. This type of dry eye is usually caused by meibomian gland dysfunction, which occurs when the glands in your eyelids don’t work properly.

  • Mixed Dry Eye

Mixed dry eye occurs when people have a combination of aqueous tear deficiency and tear instability. This is especially uncomfortable for those people because their eyes don’t produce enough tears and they have tear instability simultaneously.

Do You Need an Optometrist in Champaign, IL?

Never put off getting eye issues diagnosed! The sooner you get treatment, the sooner you can get your life back to normal. Contact Champaign Eye Professionals today to schedule a dry eye evaluation.

Why Sunglasses Are so Important

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When you visit your eye doctor in Champaign, IL, they may ask if you routinely wear sunglasses in sunlight. This seemingly strange question is because sunglasses protect the eyes from all sorts of dangers. If you thought sunglasses were a simple vanity accessory, you should know that wearing them can help preserve your eye health for a lifetime.

How Sunglasses Protect Your Eyes and Vision Health

There are multiple ways in which sunglasses protect eyes and eyesight:

  • Sunglasses provide a barrier between the eyes and environmental hazards, such as dust and airborne debris.
  • Quality, UV-rated sunglasses protect the eyes from UV rays, which exist even on cloudy days. UV rays speed up macular degeneration, so wearing sunglasses can keep your eyes younger and healthier.
  • Sunglasses prevent glare, which has been known to cause motor vehicle accidents. So whether you’re in a car, riding a bicycle, waterskiing or walking down a sidewalk, you’re actually safer from accidents when wearing sunglasses.
  • Sunglasses reduce squinting and thereby help reduce facial wrinkles around the eyes, helping you maintain a youthful appearance.

Choosing the Best Sunglasses

Cheap drugstore sunglasses may not provide the protection you need. Even though they may have a UV-rated sticker, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they offer UV protection across a broad spectrum. In addition, poor lens manufacturing methods can skew vision and damage eyesight.

Your best option for sunglasses is to order prescription sunglasses from your optometrist. That way, you’re assured of quality lenses that adhere to your corrective prescription, and you never have to choose between seeing well and shielding your eyes from UV rays.

Your optometrist offers fashionable and quality prescription sunglasses in Champaign, IL. Contact us today to book your appointment.