Adult Eye Health

It is absolutely vital that adults get yearly eye exams to check for vision conditions that can lead to partial or permanent vision loss. Many adults have no idea that several vision conditions could be looming around the corner. If caught in the early stages many vision conditions can be treated or managed with no consequences. Through early detection many of these horrible vision threatening diseases can be treated and vision can be restored. Please read a brief synopsis on some of the vision conditions plaguing our adult patients today.

Usually beginning around age 40, people experience blurred vision at near points, such as when reading or working at the computer. This happens to everyone at some point in life, even those who have never had a vision problem in the past. Presbyopia is caused by an age-related process. It is generally believed to stem from a gradual loss of flexibility in the natural lens inside the eye. Eyeglasses with bifocal or progressive addition lenses (PALs) are the most common correction for presbyopia.

A cataract is a progressive clouding of the eyes natural lens. The lens becomes blurry and eventually totally cloudy. Cataracts develop as a result of increasing age but early development can be linked to unhealthy lifestyles such as smoking. Cataract Surgery is one of the most common types of eye surgery and has seen amazing technology in the form of Phacoemulsification.

The doctors at Sioux Falls Family Vision are trained in the area of Dry Eye Syndrome as it affects over 60% of our population on a continued basis or as an episode based condition associated with environment or working conditions.

Glaucoma is an eye disease that damages the optic nerve and causes vision loss - often without warning and symptoms. Like a cable wire, the optic nerve is responsible for carrying the images we see to the brain. Damage to the optic nerve can occur when the pressure within the eye increases, usually due to a build-up of aqueous fluid inside the eye.

This leads to the development of blind spots in our field of vision. However, damage may occur without elevation of the intra-ocular pressure. Conversely, the pressure may at times be elevated without damaging the optic nerve. This is a condition known as Ocular Hypertension.

Blind spots in the field of vision usually go undetected by the individual until the optic nerve is significantly damaged and a great loss of peripheral or central vision has occurred. A Visual Field evaluation can detect glaucomatous damage in its very early stages. If the disease is untreated the optic nerve may be damaged to a point that irreversible blindness will result.

If you have diabetes you need to take special care and attention with your eyesight. Approximately sixteen million people in the USA have diabetes and 1/3 of them do not know it. People with diabetes are 25 times more likely to become blind than people without it. Early detection of problems related to diabetes can mean the difference between seeing and not seeing. Please get regular eye exams. Call us for more information.

Because adults are often using computers more and more these days it is important to consider this impact on vision. Recent studies indicate that computer vision syndrome affects as many as 75% of computer users.

Computer vision syndrome presents when a person spends a good deal of time working or in front of a computer. This vision condition is not extremely dangerous, and there is no reason to panic if you experience some of the symptoms described, but know that you can reduce these symptoms with computer vision syndrome by just changing the way you work at your computer.