What is ocular disease?
Ocular disease is any condition that affects your visual clarity and/or eye health. Some ocular disease is temporary, while other forms cause lasting damage.
Ocular disease doesn't always cause obvious symptoms, at least not in its earliest stages, and that's why it's so important to visit IC Laser Eye Care for your regularly scheduled eye exams.
What are the most common ocular diseases?
IC Laser Eye Care treats ocular disease of all kinds. Some common forms of ocular disease include:
Age-related macular degeneration
Age-related macular degeneration occurs when the macula inside your retina breaks down. This causes vision issues ranging from blurriness to blindness. Dry age-related macular degeneration progresses slowly; the wet version involves fluid leakage that damages your eyes more rapidly and severely.
Dry, the most common form of the disease, isn't treatable. But the IC Laser Eye Care team can help you take steps to prevent it, such as a healthy diet and weight loss. Wet macular degeneration treatments include anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injections and photodynamic laser therapy. Both can effectively prevent disease progression.
Diabetic retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy is a diabetic eye disease that develops when high blood sugar damages the blood vessels inside your retina. If the early form of the disease, nonproliferative, progresses to the proliferative stage, the retina may grow delicate new blood vessels that rupture, bleed, and develop scar tissue.
This may cause retinal detachment. Medical management of diabetic retinopathy and other diabetic eye diseases is the best way to preserve eye health and vision.
Uveitis
Uveitis is serious inflammation in the middle part of your uvea, the eye wall. Often, uveitis symptoms appear suddenly and intensify rapidly. Common symptoms include red eyes, eye pain, and blurry vision. If you seek treatment for uveitis promptly, you can avoid long-term damage.
There are many other eye diseases, including cataracts, glaucoma, and corneal disease.
How does ocular disease management work?
Ocular disease management at IC Laser Eye Care starts with a complete evaluation that includes a dilated eye exam and diagnostic imaging where needed. Your first exam helps your providers establish your history, make predictions, and recommend preventive care.
One of the most important components of ocular disease management is monitoring disease changes through regular exams. Many patients need exams annually, but you may need to see your doctor more often depending on the eye disease.
Another part of ocular disease management is taking steps to slow or stop disease progression, for example dietary changes for diabetic eye disease or special injections for wet age-related macular degeneration.
The IC Laser Eye Care team has the wide-ranging specialty experience to manage all ocular diseases, so don’t wait to get help. Call the location nearest you today.
