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What are potential problems with using a computer?

What is myopia?

What is hyperopia?

What is astigmatism?

What is presbyopia?

What is a cataract?

What does cataract surgery involve?

What is glaucoma?

What is macular degeneration?

What does "legally blind" mean?

What are "eye floaters"?

 

What are potential problems with using a computer?
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What is myopia?
More commonly known as "nearsightedness", myopia is a condition in which light is focused in front of the retina instead of on it. This is caused by having an eye which is too long. This causes closer objects to look fine but objects that are far away will be blury. Myopia usually develops in children and can carry into the teens and early twenties. In order to correct this glasses with a concave lense are required.

What is hyperopia?
More commonly known as "farsightedness", myopia is a condition in which light is focused behind the retina instead of on it. This is caused by having an eye which is too short. This causes farther objects to look fine but objects that are too close will be blury. Myopia usually develops in children but many will outgrow the condition. In order to correct this glasses with a convex lense are required.

What is astigmatism?
Astigmatism is when one area of the cornea will become more curved than another area, usually causing headaches and eyestrain.

What is presbyopia?
Also called "old age vision," presbyopia occurs as the lens of the eye ages and becomes less elastic and able to accommodate. Usually becomes significant after age 45 and is often signaled by the need for bifocals.

What is a cataract?
Opacity or cloudiness of the crystalline lens, which may prevent a clear image from forming on the retina. Surgical removal of the lens may be necessary if visual loss becomes significant, with lost optical power replaced with an intraocular lens, contact lens, or aphakic spectacles. May be congenital or caused by trauma, disease, or age.

What does cataract surgery involve?
There are two types of surgery that can be used to remove cataracts, extra-capsular and intra-capsular surgery. Extra-capsular surgery consists of removing the lens but leaving the majority of the lens capsule intact. High frequency sound waves (phacoemulsification) are sometimes used to break up the lens before extraction. Intra-capsular surgery involves removing the entire lens of the eye, including the lens capsule, but it is rarely performed in modern practice. The lens is then replaced with a plastic lens (an intraocular lens implant) which remains permanently in the eye.

What is glaucoma?
A group of eye diseases characterized by pressure that is too high for the optic nerve (the nerve that sends the signal of images created by the eye to the brain) to withstand. Damage to the optic nerve from glaucoma results in loss of peripheral and then central vision. Glaucoma may be treated with medications or surgery to try to stop further damage to the optic nerve and further loss of vision.

What is macular degeneration?
Macular degeneration is a medical condition where the light sensing cells in the macula malfunction and over time cease to work. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, it is the leading cause of central vision loss (blindness) in the United States today for those over the age of fifty. There are two basic types of the disease: Standard Macular Degeneration (MD) and Age Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD), with ARMD being the most common form of the condition. Macular degeneration that is not age related is most commonly caused by an inherited condition. These forms are sometimes called Juvenile macular degeneration (JMD). In macular degeneration the final form results in missing or blurred vision in the central, reading part of vision. The outer, peripheral part of the vision remains intact.

What does "legally blind" mean?
A person is considered "legally blind", in the USA, when their visual acuity is 20/200 or less in the better eye with best correction, or their field of vision is 20 degrees or less in the better eye. Coloboma of the macular and or optic nerve can cause legal blindness.

What are "eye floaters"?
Floaters are suspended in the vitreous humour, the thick fluid or gel that fills the eye. Thus, they generally follow the rapid motions of the eye, while drifting slowly within the fluid. They are most noticable when looking at the sky or a bright surface with a flat color. Everybody has them, and most of the time they are nothing to be worried about. If, however, the amount heavily increases or affects vision, it should be checked out by an eye doctor.