Many types of eye problems can affect your visual health. Whether the condition causes mild discomfort or vision loss, it’s crucial to detect and treat problems early. Prevention and early diagnosis can improve health and vision outcomes.
Monitoring changes to your eyes and vision can also decrease other health risks, as some medical conditions can be detected in an eye exam.
At Westmount Optometrists, we’re here to help, from initial diagnosis to managing eye conditions long-term. Regular comprehensive eye exams can help us watch for changes in eye health and prevent eye disease.
Regular eye exams help protect your health and manage vision problems. Our eye imaging technology, assessments, and discussions are crucial in detecting and treating many common eye conditions and diseases.
Our optometrists have a vast wealth of knowledge related to eye conditions and diseases. We’re also dedicated to learning about our patients’ unique eyes. By combining our experience and information gathered from individual assessments, we can help protect your eyes from common eye conditions and diseases.
Many eye diseases develop without noticeable symptoms during early stages. By the time you notice changes to your vision, the damage is often irreversible. Early detection increases our treatment options and reduces the likelihood of vision loss. Regular eye exams can help us monitor your eyes for signs of disease, allowing us to catch problems early.
We help to manage and monitor various eye diseases, including macular degeneration, glaucoma, cataracts, diabetic eye disease, and conjunctivitis. Whether treatment looks like a week of prescription eye drops or lifelong monitoring, we’re here to guide you every step of the way.
While most eye diseases develop without noticeable symptoms during early stages, if you do notice any sudden changes to your vision, such as flashes of light, tunnel vision, blurry vision, or floaters, contact us right away. We’ll get your eyes checked as soon as possible to rule out any serious concerns.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), while more common in patients over 55, can also be a complication from other conditions, including diabetes or degenerative myopia, which can occur in younger patients.
There are 2 forms of macular degeneration: dry and wet.
Dry AMD is milder and more common. The damage tends to progress more slowly. Wet AMD can progress faster, even suddenly. This typically results from leakage or bleeding around the macula, the part of the retina that helps us see central vision and fine details.
Symptoms of Wet AMD include:
Other significant risk factors include UV exposure, smoking, high blood pressure, and a family history of AMD.
Wet AMD can be treated with medication injections or surgery. Early detection is crucial to prevent vision loss caused by AMD.
Cataracts are cloudy spots that form in the normally clear lens in your eye. The cloudy spots can vary in size, affecting vision differently depending on how the cataract develops over time. Cataracts can affect anyone, but are more common as we age. Protecting your eyes from UV damage and eating foods rich in antioxidants can help slow the growth of cataracts.
Cataract symptoms include:
The recommended treatment can depend on how severely vision is impacted. We’ll also consider the patient’s comfort level. Common treatment options include prescription lenses and cataract surgery.
Conjunctivitis is an inflammation of the conjunctiva, or the clear tissue covering the white of the eye and the inner eyelids. Irritation causes the blood vessels in the conjunctiva to dilate, leading to bloodshot eyes.
Other common symptoms include light sensitivity, eye irritation, excessive tearing, and discharge (watery or mucousy).
Conjunctivitis can be caused by bacterial or viral infections spread by touching your eyes or face. Allergic conjunctivitis is not contagious, but it is uncomfortable. Allergy medications and eye drops can help alleviate symptoms.
The third type of conjunctivitis is caused by chemical irritation. This kind can be caused by perfume, smoke, or other chemical exposure. Flushing your eyes can help remove chemical irritants, but an eye exam can check for eye damage and determine whether further treatment is necessary.
Diabetic eye disease refers to a group of eye diseases that result from complications of diabetes. Anyone living with diabetes or prediabetes is at a higher risk of developing these complications. Consistently elevated blood sugar levels cause damage to the blood vessels in the eyes, which can cause permanent damage and even vision loss.
Diabetic eye disease includes diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema, and retinal detachment. Managing blood sugar levels helps to avoid complications such as diabetic eye disease. Regular eye exams are also crucial to monitor your eye health and catch signs of complications early.
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that damage the optic nerve, which sends light signals from the eye to the brain. Damage to the optic nerve causes vision loss. There are multiple types of glaucoma, with most occurring because of increased intraocular pressure (IOP), or pressure inside the eye. It’s the leading cause of blindness in Canada.
Early detection is crucial to preventing vision loss, but many patients do not observe symptoms in the early stages of development. By measuring IOP and assessing vision regularly, our optometrists can diagnose changes to eye health that indicate glaucoma.
Floaters can appear as spots, squiggles, cobwebs, or various shadowy shapes. Although it may seem like floaters are crossing over your vision, they’re caused by protein deposits and cells inside the eye.
Flashes of light appearing in the corner of your eye or side vision are often a symptom of an eye condition. These flashes, called photopsia, can affect one or both eyes. The shapes of the vision distortion can vary, and can sometimes be referred to as “seeing stars.”
While often harmless, flashes and floaters can sometimes signal a more serious condition, such as retinal detachment. If you notice unfamiliar flashes or floaters, or see a sudden increase in frequency, contact us for an eye exam right away.
Optometrists use various eye imaging technologies and assessments to evaluate eye health and diagnose eye conditions. One common test type is measuring intraocular eye pressure (IOP). Monitoring eye pressure is crucial in detecting glaucoma, a common sight-stealing disease.
Eye pressure can indicate problems with fluid drainage, which can affect the optic nerve. The optic nerve is responsible for sending signals from our eyes to our brain. Our team at Westmount Optometrists uses Goldmann tonometry, non-contact tonometry, and the iCare tonometer to evaluate eye pressure.
Goldmann tonometry (or applanation tonometry) uses a small probe to gently flatten the surface of the eye.
The patient’s eyes are numbed with eye drops before the test. Dye is used, sometimes included in the eye drops or placed with a fine strip of paper. Then, the optometrist examines the patient’s eyes while focusing light with a slit lamp.
There is no discomfort during the test. However, the numbing eye drops can cause blurry vision or light sensitivity for a few hours after your appointment.
The iCare tonometer is a quicker alternative to applanation tonometry. The procedure is similar and still uses eye drops to limit patient discomfort.
The iCare device is handheld and is used to gently tap the surface of the cornea. The device instantly measures intraocular eye pressure (IOP).
Non-contact tonometry is also known as the “puff test.” The testing instrument does not touch the patient’s eye, and no eye drops are required. Although there is no discomfort, it can be surprising!
The device measures intraocular eye pressure (IOP) using a tiny beam of light. When the air puff reaches the eye, the pressure temporarily flattens the cornea, causing the beam of light to move. The device calculates the light movement to measure eye pressure.
Many eye diseases and conditions can develop slowly but can affect vision and eye health over time. Early diagnosis and prevention can protect your health and sight.
Visit us regularly for an eye checkup. The more often we see you, the better we can help you manage your eye health. Book your regular eye exam now!
At the corner of Springbank Drive and Wonderland Road, our clinic offers plenty of parking out front.
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