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EYE
CARE
CORNEAL
BLINDNESS
The cornea is the clear tissue covering the front of the eye.
It is a focusing element of the eye. Vision will be dramatically
reduced or lost if the cornea becomes cloudy from disease,
injury or infection.
MAIN
CAUSES OF CORNEAL BLINDNESS
Injuries |
Malnutrition |
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Infections
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Chemical burns
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Congenital
disorders |
Post
operative complications or infections |
This
section will help you in understanding some of the terminology
your Doctor uses at the time of the examination of your eye.
The various tests and surgeries that are performed at Sankara
Nethralaya are listed below which will raise your "Eye-Q".
Please click on the following topics to know about specific
terminology that you may want to know more about.
Know
about common (symptoms) eye complaints/diseases/dis-orders
Loss
of Vision and blurred vision:
Vision can be defective to a variable degree. It
may be easy to detect gross decrease in vision but it may
be more difficult to detect subtle degree of loss of vision.
It is very easy to miss gross loss of vision in one eye when
the other eye is healthy unless one consciously tests each
eye separately. It is a good practice to test each eye separately
at regular intervals using any fine reading material such
as newspaper.
Double
vision:
Normally the image formed by the two eyes is coordinated into
a single image by the brain. Two distinct images are seen
once this coordination is disturbed due to various diseases
involving the muscles of the eye and the nerves that control
the same. Multiple images often are an early symptom of cataract.
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Redness
of the eye:
Visible redness of the one or both eyes is a common symptom
pertaining to several varieties of diseases. One should not
mistake every red eye as having viral conjunctivitis (So called
Madras eye). Hence do not self medicate and delay seeking
medical advice if you have a red eye. It could be something
serious.
Stickiness
of eyelids:
A common symptom of infection in the eye is stickiness of
the eyelids due to discharge. This infection could be purely
external or could be more serious. Persistent stickiness of
the eye lashes needs early evaluation.
Watering:
Watering could be the result of mal alignment of the eyelids
or eyelashes or a blockade of tear ducts that normally drain
the tear fluid into the nose. Presence of tearing in newborn
babies can indicate lack of patency of the tear ducts and
may need attention.
White
reflex in the eye:
Normally the center of the eye gives a black reflex due to
the pupil. A white reflex can be due to opacification of the
normally transparent cornea, the lens (cataract) or due to
an abnormal growth of tissue behind the lens. A white reflex
in a child can potentially be dangerous and should not be
ignored.
Abnormal
looking eye:
Abnormal look of the eye could be due to prominence of
the eye, or could be the result of defects involving the eyelids.
Prominence of the eye could be due to large eyeballs or due
to protrusion of normal sized eye by abnormal growth behind
the eye. Any change in appearance of the eye should be investigated.
Previous photographs could be useful in comparing especially
when one is not certain about the time of onset of the abnormal
look of the eye.
Drooping
of the eyelid:
Drooping of the upper eyelid could be present at birth or
could occur later. If the defect has occurred later in life
one should note the frequency of the occurrence and in what
part of the day it is more prominent. These observations can
help the doctor make important decisions.
Squinting
of the eyes:
Squinting indicates the misalignment of the eyes.
Inchildren, this can potentially lead to reduction of vision
in the squinting eye due to disuse (lazy eye). When in doubt,
taking photographs with flash can help identify the squint
in the photographs. This is especially useful to the doctor,
in case of children who refuse to cooperate with the doctor
for adequate examination.
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