When my sister was in elementary school, she started always sitting in the front row of desks at school. One of her teachers noticed this habit and arranged a meeting with my parents. This caring teacher told my parents that she thought my sister needed glasses. When my sister visited an optometrist, this professional diagnosed her with a severe case of astigmatism. He also informed my parents that she was nearsighted as well. Due to her eye issues, my sister had to start wearing glasses all of the time. Her new glasses helped her tremendously in school. She no longer had to sit in the front of the classroom in order to view the notes placed on the board. On this blog, you will discover the importance of getting your kids’ eyes checked by an optometrist before enrolling them in school.
You can injure many parts of your body playing sports, including your eyes. One eye injury that you may suffer during your sports career is vitreous detachment. Here are three things you need to know about this eye injury.
How does vitreous detachment occur?
Your vitreous is the gel-like filling inside your eyeball. Your vitreous is attached to your retina, a light-sensitive tissue in the very back of your eye. In response to trauma, the vitreous can partially detach itself from the retina.
Many different sports can lead to this type of injury. In contact sports like football, being tackled and thrown to the ground can detach your vitreous. In ball sports like baseball or basketball, being hit in the face with the ball can do the same thing. Even solo sports that seem reasonably safe, like running or cycling, can lead to this injury if you fall.
What are the signs of vitreous detachment?
If you suffer a vitreous detachment, you will see flashes and floaters. Flashes look like flashing lights in your field of vision, while floaters are dots, lines, or cobwebs that you see floating across your field of vision.
If you notice these changes in your vision after a sports injury, see an optometrist right away. Medical treatment is important because in some cases, the force of the vitreous pulling away from the retina can tear the retina or even fully detach the retina.
How is vitreous detachment treated?
Your optometrist will first perform a dilated eye exam to check your retina for signs of damage. If the retina isn't damaged, observation is the main treatment. Within three to six months, the floaters will usually improve.
If the floaters don't go away, or if your optometrist notices that your retina is starting to tear, the injury can be treated with a vitrectomy. During this surgery, an ophthalmologist will carefully remove the cloudy vitreous from inside your eye; this is done by making an incision in the outside of the eye and removing the vitreous with forceps. This can be done under general anesthesia.
Your ophthalmologist may also place a gas or air bubble inside your eye to hold your retina in place while it heals. While you're recovering, you'll need to lie on your stomach to hold the bubble against your retina.
While you're healing, it's important that you don't play sports. The recovery time can vary quite a bit between patients, so only your optometrist can tell you when it's safe for you to resume your activities.
Share19 November 2015
