Vision impairments involving the cornea can have serious implications on your eyesight. To learn more about corneal conditions and how to treat them, read about these four vision impairments:
Pterygium Growth
The pterygium is a tissue that sometimes grows over the cornea. If it grows large enough, it interferes with vision. This condition occurs more often in people who spend a lot of time outside in sunny, dusty climates. Eye drops or ointments can help reduce inflammation, but surgery may be required if the pterygium growth expands enough to threaten your eyesight.
Pinguecula Bumps
Pinguecula appears on the whites of the eyes as a yellowish bump or patch and often forms in response to chronic eye irritation or sunlight exposure. Pinguecula is a malfunction of your normal eye tissue which deposits protein and fat molecules on your eye. Prescribed medicines can offset further inflammation of the condition. If pinguecula becomes extremely uncomfortable, it can be surgically removed.
Fuchs’ Dystrophy
Fuchs’ dystrophy affects the delicate inner layer of your cornea. This inherited condition reduces your eyes ability to remove excess fluids from the cornea. As a result, the excess fluids build up, causing corneal clouding, swelling, and reduced vision. Unfortunately, Fuchs’ Dystrophy cannot be cured, but with medication the corneal swelling can be controlled.
Keratoconus
Keratoconus, or KC, is an eye condition which progressively thins the dome shape of your cornea into a more cone-like bulge. The effect KC has on your eyesight is significant. Because this condition incorrectly refracts the light coming into the eye, it makes simple tasks like watching TV or driving difficult. In cases of extreme KC thinning, a corneal transplant may be needed to replace the KC cornea with tissue from a healthy donor in a DSEK procedure.
To treat these or other vision impairments, consult a professional with exceptional experience in eye surgery, laser vision correction, and LASIK procedures. The doctors at Boston Laser have written four textbooks on laser vision correction and have performed over 9,000 procedures. Call us today at (617) 566-0062 to realize the true potential of your eyesight.
