Is Vitreous Detachment Serious Business?
For many people, seeing spots are an everyday part of life. Some have actually learned to survive with big black or blue spots right in the center of their vision. Then, there are others that continuously swat at what looks to be gnats constantly flying around their personal space, but there is really nothing there at all. All of the situations being described above can be attributed to what is called vitreous detachment. The little spots that many go around seeing on a day to day basis are called vitreous floaters.
The vitreous is the portion of your eye that is the largest as its main function is to maintain the shape of the eyeball which is a sphere. Made of a substance that resembles jelly, the vitreous is transparent, and it must be transparent in order for light to pass through the eye with no interruption.
Typically, as a person ages, somewhere along the way, there is a greater chance that he or she will develop floaters (mentioned above as vitreous floaters). This is what occurs when the vitreous loses its gel like form and breaks apart and begins to float around in the eye. This floating around in the more liquefied vitreous causes dark shadows to be seen to the person experiencing it as spots.
Normally, there is absolutely no need to panic if seeing one or two floaters periodically and they aren’t impeding in everyday activities. However, there is a time where if suddenly there is an overwhelming number of them in a person’s line of vision, there could be trouble. This could be referencing another problem that needs immediate attention before it worsens, and that is retinal detachment. Get to an ophthalmologist immediately so that he or she can hopefully rule this very serious condition out. Also if the floaters are causing a problem in necessary activities such as driving and reading, see an eye doctor for imput on how to solve this problem.
What Is Anisometropia And Antimetropia?
A lengthy word it is, and almost no one knows exactly what it is except for those in the optical field. Anisometropia is the word that is being spoken of, and this word means something extremely self explanatory.
Anisometropia is when the vision of the eyes differs by a large margin. For instance, if a person has the refractive power of -2.50 in the right eye and for the left eye, the refractive power is +1.75. There is a difference of over 3 diopters between both eyes, therefore, this case would be anisometropia.
Now, don’t confuse this with antimetropia, however, as this term only refers to prescriptions that differ in sign such as OD -0.25 OS +0.50. As can be seen here, there is a negative sign for the right eye and a positive sign for the left eye. This situation is all that is needed for antimetropia.
Anisometropia does not have to be a difference
in sign(though it can be), but it does have to be a large difference in power between both eyes. That being said, this can cause issues when a patient is having to select frames as the difference in prescription is so much that it more than likely will cause an imbalance in how the lenses fit inside the frame. Several things may need to be altered such as base curves, nose pads, ruling out certain types of frames such as semi-rimless or rimless frames etc. Because of this, the optician needs to be prepared to help the patient select the frame that not only will compliment but also deliever great fit and wear when it comes to this special type of prescription.
