What Eye Problems Look Like

Warning Signs of Eye Trouble

Blurry vision, spots, glare at night, flashing lights -- these are common eye complaints. Each could be a harmless annoyance or an early sign of disease. It isn’t always easy to tell the difference. Visit your eye doctor promptly if you notice any changes in your vision.

Nearsightedness (Myopia)

When you're nearsighted, things in the distance look blurry. Doctors call it myopia. You're more likely to have it if: 

• One or both of your parents have it

• You do lots of close-up reading

To correct it, you can wear glasses, contacts, or get surgery in some cases.

Farsightedness (Hyperopia)

Most people are born with mild farsightedness and outgrow it in childhood. When it persists, you may see distant objects well, but books, knitting, and other close objects are a blur. This problem runs in families. Symptoms include trouble with reading, blurry vision at night, eyestrain, and headaches. To treat it, you may wear glasses or contacts. Some people get surgery for it.

Presbyopia

Trouble reading fine print is a sign of aging. It's called presbyopia, which means "old eye" in Greek. Most people start to notice it in their 40s. The eyes' lenses become less flexible and can't change shape to focus on objects at reading distance. The solution: Wear reading glasses or bifocals, which correct both near and distance vision. If you wear contacts, ask your eye doctor about contacts made for people with presbyopia.

Astigmatism

If you have astigmatism in one or both eyes, your vision may be out of focus at any distance. It happens when the cornea, the clear “window” that covers the front of the eye, isn’t shaped right. Light rays can’t focus on a single point on your retina. Instead they scatter to many places. Glasses or contact lenses correct it. Surgery may be an option. Symptoms include blurred vision, headaches, fatigue, and eye strain.

Refractive Eye Surgery

Do you dream of seeing clearly without glasses? Surgery to reshape your cornea can correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism with a success rate of better than 90%. Surgery may not be right for you if you have severe dry eye, thin or oddly shaped corneas, or severe vision problems. Side effects include glare or sensitivity to light.

Glaucoma:

You can’t feel it, but this disease damages your optic nerve. You may not have any symptoms until you lose your central vision. Your side vision will go first. That’s why you need regular eye exams every 1 to 2 years, especially after you turn 40. Doctors can treat glaucoma with medications or surgery.

Macular Degeneration:

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) damages and then destroys your central vision, making it hard to read or drive. Symptoms can include a central blurry spot or straight lines that appear wavy. You're more likely to have it if you are older than 60, smoke, have high blood pressure, are obese, are female, or have a family history of the condition. See your eye doctor regularly to check for AMD. Prompt treatment can help slow vision loss.

Diabetic Retinopathy:

Type 1 and type 2 diabetes can cause partial vision loss (shown here) and lead to blindness. The damage involves tiny blood vessels in your retina. It can often be treated, but don't wait for symptoms. By the time you have them -- blurry vision, spots, shadows, or pain -- the disease may be severe. If you have diabetes, get an annual eye exam. The best prevention is to keep your blood sugar in check.

Cataracts:

By age 80, more than half of us will have had a cataract, or cloudy lens. Your vision slowly gets foggy and it gets hard to read, drive, and see at night. Diabetes, smoking, or too much time in the sun raise your chances. Surgery that replaces the clouded lens with man-made one works well.

Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP)

You can inherit this disorder from your parents. It often begins with night vision problems. Next comes a slow loss of side vision. That becomes tunnel vision and finally, in some cases, blindness. High-dose vitamin A supplements can reduce vision loss and an implant that can restore some vision is in the works. But see your doctor before you take supplements. Too much vitamin A can be toxic.

Floaters and Specks

Do you see blurry spots or specks that move? They’re probably floaters -- debris in your eye's vitreous gel. They don't block vision and are easier to see in bright light. Floaters are common and usually harmless. See a doctor right away if:

• They show up or multiply suddenly.

• You also see flashes of light.

• You see white or black spots all the time. 

• You notice a sudden shadow or loss of side vision.

Amblyopia (Lazy Eye)

When you’re a child, if one eye doesn’t see well, your brain may favor the other. This condition, called ambylopia, can happen if your eyes aren’t aligned right (strabismus or crossed eyes) or one eye just doesn’t work as well. The doctor will prescribe a patch or drops that blur vision in the "good" eye. This prompts your brain to use the other eye. If amblyopia isn’t treated during childhood, it can cause permanent vision loss.

Object in the Eye

Because so many nerve endings lie just beneath the surface or your cornea, even a tiny speck can be painful. Don't rub your eye, or you could cause serious damage. Wash it with lukewarm water. If it object doesn’t move, call a doctor. He can remove it and give you antibiotic drops to prevent an infection.

Tears and Dry Eye

Tears keep your eyes moist. Sometimes you don’t have enough, either from dry air, aging, or other health conditions. Your eyes can get painful and irritated. Eye drops labeled artificial tears may do the trick for a mild case. If it’s a bigger problem, you may benefit from other treatments, medications or nutritional supplements.

Pinkeye (Conjunctivitis) aka Appolo

This inflammation results from a virus, bacteria, irritant, or allergy. Your eye will get red, and itch or burn. You’ll also notice a gunky discharge. If your eye itches an allergic is probably to blame. The type you catch from other people is usually viral, so you won’t need antibiotics. If your pinkeye is caused by bacteria, the doctor will give you antibiotic eye drops. Pinkeye can be very contagious, so wash your hands often while you wait for it to clear up.

Stye

This painful red bump looks like a pimple on or near the edge of your eyelid. It’s a type of infection of the eyelids (the doctor will call it blepharitis). Styes usually heal in a week. You can speed things up by putting a warm, wet compress on it 3 to 6 times a day. Don’t wear contacts or eye makeup until it heals.

Allergies

They can cause itchy, watery eyes. Pollen, grass, dust, weeds, and pet dander are common triggers. An allergy doctor can tell you what’s to blame for yours. Keep your windows shut at home and in your car. You can get special pillow and mattresses covers to keep allergens out. Clean your house thoroughly and use allergen filters in your furnace and air conditioner. Allergy eye drops, artificial tears, and antihistamines may help.

Eye Care

1. Keep Up With Your Eye Exams

You need regular checkups all through your life, especially if eye problems run in your family or if you have other risk factors. An eye exam can also find other problems, like diabetes and high blood pressure, or even a stroke or brain tumor. Bulging eyes can signal thyroid disease. A yellow tint in the whites of your eyes might be sign of liver problems.

2. Prevent Sun Damage

UV rays can harm your eyes. Exposure can cause you to get cataracts 8-10 years earlier than normal. Just one long session in the sun can cause very painful irritation of your corneas. So wear a hat and sunglasses that block UV rays. You can add a clear, protective UV-blocking film to your car’s side windows, too. If you have light-colored eyes you may be more sensitive to light. If it suddenly starts to bother you more than usual, call your eye doctor.

3. Stay Safe at Home

Grease splatters from a pan, yard debris flies up from the lawn mower, cleaning solution splashes in a bucket. Some of the greatest eye hazards are in the home. Eye doctors suggest everyone keep a pair of protective eyewear at home. Look for one approved by the American National Standards Institute. Even if an eye injury seems minor, go to the emergency room right away to get it checked out.

Foods for Eye Health

Carrots really are good for your eyes. So are spinach, nuts, oranges, beef, fish, whole grains, and many other things that make up a healthy diet. Look for foods with antioxidants like omega-3 fatty acids; vitamins C, E, and beta-carotene; as well as zinc, lutein, and zeaxanthin.

A Visual Guide to Glaucoma

What Is Glaucoma?

It's a condition that can damage your optic nerve, usually because of too much pressure in your eye. The optic nerve does an important job. It sends signals from your eye to your brain, which turns them into an image you can see. When the optic nerve isn't working right, you'll get problems with your vision. You can even lose your sight.

What Causes Glaucoma?

Your eyes make a fluid that bathes and nourishes tissue in them. Normally the liquid flows through a channel called the drainage angle. When you have glaucoma, the channel stops working well. Fluid backs up and causes pressure to build up inside your eye. 

Who Gets Glaucoma?

You're more likely to get the condition if your parent, brother or sister, or another close relative has it. Your chances of getting it are greater if you're over 40, are African-American or Hispanic, or because of things like:

• High pressure in eyes

• Eye injury or surgery

• Thin cornea (clear layer in front of the eye)

• Diabetes, high blood pressure, or heart disease

• Problem with your optic nerve

• You use steroid eye drops or pills

What Are the Symptoms?

Since open-angle and normal-tension glaucoma sneak up on you slowly, symptoms may not show up until the disease is already far along. Without treatment, you'll slowly lose your peripheral (side) vision. That means you may miss objects that you would normally see out of the corner of your eye. It's a bit like looking through a tunnel. 

Tests for Glaucoma

A regular eye exam is the best way to find glaucoma early. Your doctor will do some or all of these tests:

• Measure the pressure inside your eye

• Test your side vision

• Measure the thickness of your cornea

• Use a magnifying tool to check your optic nerve for damage

• Take a picture of your optic nerve

• Check the drainage angle in your eye

Glaucoma Treatments

Medicine: Your doctor will likely suggest eye drops or pills to manage your glaucoma. They cut how much fluid your eyes make and help it drain off. Take your medicine every day to keep your condition under control. Let your doctor know if you get side effects, like burning, stinging, and redness in your eyes.

Laser Surgery: Your doctor may suggest a procedure called laser trabeculoplasty to treat open-angle glaucoma. He'll numb your eye and then use a laser beam to make small holes in the drainage channel to help fluid flow out. Usually doctors treat one eye at a time. Laser surgery can lower pressure in your eyes, but the effects may not be permanent. Some people need more than one surgery to get long-term results.

Surgery: If medicine and laser surgery don't lower your eye pressure enough, your doctor might recommend a procedure called trabeculectomy. He creates a flap in the white part of your eye to let more fluid drain out. About half of people who have this surgery don't need glaucoma medicine anymore. But sometimes the opening closes again and you'll need a second surgery.

Protect Your Vision: About half of people with glaucoma don't know they have it. To prevent vision loss, know your family history and other risks. Get an eye exam every 1 to 2 years. If your doctor tells you that you have glaucoma, follow his treatment directions carefully. Let him know about any changes in the way you see right away.

What to Expect

Eye drops, surgery, and other treatments can help you manage your glaucoma and prevent you from losing your vision. You'll need to keep up with your treatment throughout your life to keep your eye pressure in check. Your doctor will want you to see her for checkups a few times a year.

Just Because You're Young, Doesn't Mean You Should Ignore Your Vision...

Glaucoma Screening

Eye tests for glaucoma are based on age and personal risk:

• Under 40: Every 2-4 years

• 40-54: Every 1-3 years

• 55-64: Every 1-2 years

• 65 up: Every 6-12 months

Talk with a doctor about earlier, more frequent screening if you fall in a high risk group, including African-Americans, those with a family history of glaucoma, previous eye injury, or use of steroid medications.

What Causes Tooth Enamel Damage?

How Enamel Protects Your Teeth

Enamel is kind of like an eggshell. It protects the soft part of the tooth inside.

Unlike an egg’s outer layer, it's tough. It’s the hardest substance in your body. With some luck -- and good dental care -- it can withstand decades of biting, chewing, and crunching.

What Discolors Teeth?

Enamel may seem white, but it’s clear. Light can shine through it. The layer underneath, dentin, shows through. That’s what makes a tooth look light or dark.  

Over time, things like coffee, tea, wine, and cigarettes can make the outer layer of your teeth look dingy yellow or gray.

From Erosion to Cavities

As tough as tooth enamel is, it can be worn down. Acids from foods and bacteria eat away at it, causing erosion and cavities. Enamel can also be chipped or cracked. Unlike bone, it can’t grow back on its own. 

Tooth Decay and Sensitivity

What happens when tooth enamel is damaged? The inner layer gets exposed, and decay can start. Cavities aren't the only problem.Teeth with damaged enamel can react to extreme heat or cold. Eating ice cream or sipping hot coffee can be a pain, or at least unpleasant.

How Bacteria Destroy Enamel

After you eat, bacteria in your mouth feast on sugars from sweet foods and starches. This makes acids that can destroy enamel. The green rods in this slide are bacteria that cause mild gum disease, also called gingivitis. Acids in soft drinks, juices, and drinks are harmful, too. Some are harsher than battery acid. Over time, they cause erosion. That damages the tooth by chemical wear.

Wine Lovers, Beware

Drinking it many times a day -- and swishing it in your mouth -- puts your enamel in contact with harmful acids. That’s why it’s better to drink a glass of wine, soft drink, or sweet tea with a meal instead of sipping it over several hours.

Eating and Digestive Problems

Some health conditions can damage tooth enamel. Erosion from the eating disorder bulimia, caused when stomach acid enters the mouth because of frequent vomiting. Acid reflux, stomach problems, and other eating disorders can have this effect.

The Problem with Dry Mouth

Saliva takes care of acids in your mouth that erode your teeth. Its presence helps preserve tooth enamel. If you have a dry mouth caused by a drug side effect or health condition, the acids stick around longer. That can cause more damage.

Grinding Teeth

Another cause of tooth enamel damage is bruxism, or teeth grinding. Over time, the constant clenching and friction can wear down or fracture the enamel. Bruxism is often worst when you sleep -- that's when you can't control it. Reducing stress may help. Some people wear a special mouth guard to bed. Ask your dentist if this is a problem for you.

Your Mouth Is Not a Bottle Opener!

Never open containers with your teeth. You could chip or crack them. Gnawing on anything else -- like pens or fingernails -- or chomping down on seeds, popcorn kernels, or ice could have the same result.

How Oral Health and Heart Disease Are Connected

Oral health and heart disease are connected by the spread of bacteria – and other germs – from your mouth to other parts of your body through the blood stream. When these bacteria reach the heart, they can attach themselves to any damaged area and cause inflammation. This can result in illnesses such as endocarditis, an infection of the inner lining of the heart. Other cardiovascular conditions such as atherosclerosis (clogged arteries) and stroke have also been linked to inflammation caused by oral bacteria. Other conditions that might be linked to oral health include eating disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, pancreatic cancer and an immune system disorder that causes dry mouth (Sjogren's syndrome).

Improve Your Dental Hygiene

• Floss your teeth. Don’t use toothpicks.

• Brush your teeth gently. Scouring teeth with a hard-bristled toothbrush can damage enamel.

• Use non-alcoholic mouthwash, too. Choose one that fights bacteria and has fluoride. Not only does it freshen your breath, it can also help your enamel.

• Follow directions when using teeth-whitening products. They can be bad for your teeth if you don’t use them right or you use them too often.

• If you need pointers on how to care for your teeth, just ask your dentist.

Healthy Mouth: Do These Things Help or Hurt?

Baking Soda and Peroxide

People have been trying this combo to clean and whiten their teeth for generations. But it’s hard to get the mixture right. If the peroxide is too strong, it may irritate your teeth and gums. And the baking soda, which is a little harsh, can wear down enamel (the hard outside part of your teeth).

Green Tea

This has been a favorite drink in Asia for more than 4,000 years, and with good reason. Researchers have found that, in addition to other possible health benefits, green tea can help your gums and teeth stay healthy. That may be thanks in part to a chemical in it that helps your body fight inflammation.

Sugarless Gum

If you chew a piece of this for 20 minutes or so after a meal, your mouth makes more saliva. That washes away bits of food and balances out some acids that germs in your mouth make. Look for gum made with sweeteners called xylitol, aspartame, sorbitol, or mannitol. And remember that you still have to brush and floss.

Salt Water

This mixture may not taste all that great, but it can help fight germs in your mouth. If your gums are red or sore, stir half a teaspoon of salt into a glass of warm water. Slosh it around in your mouth for about 30 seconds, and then spit it out. Another use for warm, salty water: If a cold makes your throat scratchy, gargling with it can help for a while.

Nutrients

A healthy diet is good for your mouth, too. Calcium and phosphorous can make your teeth stronger. You can get calcium from low-fat or fat-free milk, yogurt, and cheese; soy drinks and tofu; canned salmon; almonds; and dark green, leafy vegetables. Phosphorus comes from eggs, fish, lean meat, and dairy products. Vitamin C, which helps your gums, is in citrus fruit, tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, potatoes, and spinach.

Water

Your body is about 70% water, so it’s a good idea in general to get plenty of it. But it’s especially good for your mouth and teeth. Your local water system probably adds fluoride to water, and that helps fight cavities. Water sloshing through your mouth washes away food particles and thins out the acids that germs make. Your body also turns some of it into saliva, which helps you swallow and supplies calcium to strengthen your teeth.

Electric Toothbrush

This powered device can be good for people with disabilities or seniors whose hands and fingers are stiff, but the old-school version works just as well. Either kind can do what your mouth needs. The gadgets that use jets of water to clean bits of food between your teeth can be good, too.

Whitening Products

One kind of over-the-counter whitener uses peroxide (on strips or brushed onto your teeth) to bleach your teeth. The other is toothpaste that uses gentle friction and chemicals to go after surface stains. They can work fairly well for some people, but your best bet may be to start with a treatment by your dentist, then follow up with one of these at home.

Oil Pulling

The idea here is to put a spoonful of coconut oil, olive oil, or some other edible oil in your mouth, then slosh it around and suck it between your teeth. It’s been done for centuries in India and South Asia, but there’s no scientific evidence that it fights cavities, whitens your teeth, or boosts your oral health in any way.

Turmeric

This spice is a key ingredient in curry powder. Folk medicine from South Asia has long used it to ease breathing problems, pain, and other ailments. You may have heard that turmeric also can whiten your teeth, but there’s no proof that it does that.

Charcoal

Toothpastes and powders that promise to whiten your teeth using this have been around for a long time, and sellers on the Internet have brought them back into the spotlight. But there’s no evidence that it does anything for your teeth, or that it’s even safe to use that way. More research needs to be done to know for sure, but charcoal may hurt your teeth by scraping them.

Fruit or Vinegar

Some home methods of teeth whitening have you start with something that has acids (like lemon juice or apple cider vinegar) or fruit with chemicals that help with digestion (like pineapple or mango). You mix that with something abrasive, like baking soda, and brush with it. In short, don’t. If the acid in fruit or vinegar rubs against your teeth, it can eat away at the enamel.