What is a cataract?

A cataract (Greek, meaning waterfall) is a cloudiness or opacity of the lens inside your eye. When we are young, the lens is clear, and can change shape so we can see up close. As we age, the protein structure in the lens changes, so that the lens becomes stiff and then cloudy (like an egg white when it is cooked). In the early stages, we have trouble seeing up close, so that we need reading glasses. As the process progresses, we can experience glare in bright lights or while driving at night, with trouble reading in dim light.

A pterygium (Greek, meaning wing) is a growth of blood vessels and scar tissue on the surface of the eye. It grows in response to damage from sun, wind, heat, dryness and other conditions that can damage the ocular surface.

If the damage continues, the response itself can cause further damage. The pterygium can become raised, red and irritated. Then the surface dries out, the lid rubs on it when you blink, and it can become sore and inflamed, causing further irritation and growth.

Blepharoplasty (Greek, meaning eyelid repair) is surgery to remove excess skin of the eyelids. 

As we age, our skin and the underlying tissues may lose their elasticity – their ability to bounce back after we stretch them. One of the ways we see this is in stretching of the delicate skin of the upper eyelids.

As our eyelids age, the tissues can stretch, causing drooping of the upper lids or drooping of the lower lids. 

What is ptosis?

Drooping of the upper lid is known as ptosis.

More commonly, the skin of the eyelid stretches and sags (see blepharoplasty) but sometimes the underlying muscle that lifts the lid up and down stretches, and this tendon needs to be tightened up with sutures. Usually the excess overlying skin then needs to be removed as well (blepharoplasty).

The skin around the eyes can develop small cancers, as can the skin anywhere on the body.

There are some specific problems in diagnosing and treating tumours in, on or near the eye, and it makes sense to have specialist attention in this area.

What is Glaucoma?

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The eye is a ball filled with clear fluid under pressure. The fluid is constantly made within the eye, circulates and then drains out through small holes in the internal angle of the eye, into the vascular system.

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The pressure of the fluid is usually maintained quite constant, keeping the eye spherical, so that we can see clearly. As we age, the drain holes can close up and the fluid drains away less readily, leading to a rise in pressure (like when the sink blocks up).

What is the macula?

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The macula is the central area of the retina, the nerve tissue lining the back of the eye. The special cells of the macula, called cones, allow us to see colour, faces, and fine detail. They are some of the most metabolically active cells in the body, so over time, they can wear out. This process of ageing is also known as oxidative damage and may be accelerated by smoking, drinking, eating harmful foods and other forms of physical, mental and emotional stress.

What is dry eye?

The normal tear film which coats the surface of the eye has three layers: water, mucous and fat. Dry eye can be due to a problem with one or more of these layers.

Most commonly, dry eye is due to decreased production of the watery layer, or problems with the fatty layer which normally coats the watery layer.

The watery tears evaporate, so the tears become more salty, and this causes discomfort and interferes with the nutrition of the surface of the eye.

What is blepharitis?

Blepharitis means inflammation of the eyelids.

What causes blepharitis?

Blepharitis is caused by an increased concentration of bacteria in the eyelids.

There is usually an underlying dry eye condition which allows this, as a healthy tear film washes away the bacteria and lubricates the surface of the eye. There is usually an underlying dry eye condition which allows this, as a healthy tear film washes away the bacteria and lubricates the surface of the eye.

If you need glasses to see clearly, contact lenses are a great way of giving you clear vision, free of distortion and with full peripheral vision, and they free your face from glasses. But you need to take care with contact lens wear.

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There is nothing natural about contact lenses.  They are foreign objects – pieces of plastic – sitting on the surface of the eye.  If not used with care, they can cause complications, including infection, permanent scarring, permanent loss of vision and even loss of the eye. 

Seeing can be relaxed, effortless and enjoyable. To see clearly, our eyes move constantly and the muscles are relaxed for distance vision and focused for near vision.

Very few of us are born with strong refractive errors (short sightedness or long sightedness or astigmatism) requiring glasses. More commonly, because no-one actually teaches us how to see (which is just opening ourselves up and allowing ourselves to receive light) we can unconsciously stress and strain as we learn to see, fixing our eyes on one spot, which causes loss of clarity. We then stare and strain more to try and see clearly, which may lead to muscle tension and our eyes going out of focus, so that we need glasses.

Truly caring for your eyes means caring for the whole of you. Our eyes do not exist in isolation, for they are living in our bodies!
 

Our eyes are literally the windows of our bodies, as well as our souls, and just as we see out of them, we can see into them. Conditions like high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries, and diabetes can be seen in the blood vessels lining the eyes. Some diseases, particularly auto-immune diseases, can cause problems with the eyes, as can the medications used to treat them.