Common Eye Conditions

Leaders in Castle Rock Vision Care: We Have The Experience and Equipment Necessary to Diagnose and Often Treat Eye Conditions

Black Diamond Eye Care provides treatment, consultation and referrals for these common vision correction surgeries and procedures.

Castle Rock vision care and vision correction is a general term used to describe a variety of optometric techniques for correcting less-than-perfect vision. For your convenience, we have included a brief description of some of the most common vision correction procedures offered at Black Diamond Eye Care. For more specific information about lenses and frames or contacts, please visit their respective pages.

Amblyopia (Lazy Eye)

Lazy eye, medically known as amblyopia, is a loss or lack of development of vision, usually in one eye. This degenerative process usually begins with an inherited condition and appears during infancy or early childhood. Lazy eye needs to be diagnosed between birth and early school age since it is during this period that the brain “chooses” its visual pathway and may ignore the weaker eye permanently.

Lazy eye is not always easy to recognize since a child with worse vision in one eye does not necessarily have lazy eye. Because of this, it is recommended that all children, including those with no symptoms, have a comprehensive eye examination by the age of three and sooner if there is a family history of any eye condition or disease. If you suspect a problem, or need to set up your child’s first eye examination, contact Black Diamond Eye Care to set up an appointment.

Blepharitis

Blepharitis is a general term for an inflammation of the eyelid and eyelashes. It is among the most common and stubborn eye conditions usually resulting from poor eyelid hygiene, a low-grade bacterial infection (usually staphylococcal), an allergic reaction and/or abnormalities in oil gland function.

Like some other skin conditions, blepharitis can be controlled but not cured. The main goals in treating it are to reduce the amount of bacteria along the lid margin and open plugged glands. Contact Black Diamond Eye Care to assess the severity of your problem and the best treatment method.

Cataracts

A cataract is a common eye condition that causes the lens of the eye to become cloudy, resulting in blurred or dimmed vision. It is a leading cause of blindness worldwide, particularly among older individuals. By the age of 65, there is a 50 percent chance of developing a cataract, and this likelihood increases to 70 percent by the age of 75.

Initially, cataracts may have minimal impact on vision. However, as they progress, reading and performing everyday tasks become more challenging. In the early stages, your doctor may suggest wearing stronger eyeglasses and adjusting lighting to reduce glare. When cataracts significantly interfere with your daily life, cataract-removal surgery is often recommended. This procedure is highly successful and widely performed in the United States.

Computer Vision Syndrome

Computer Vision Syndrome is characterized by neck pain, blurry vision, stiff shoulders, headache and watery eyes when working in front of a computer screen. The symptoms are typically due to posture, dry eyes, eye muscle coordination and poorly corrected vision.

Since computer monitors are typically 20 to 26 inches from your eyes, your regular glasses may not be the best option for computer work. This distance range is considered intermediate – closer than what you use to drive a car but farther away than what you use to read. Special lens designs for computer work provide you with a larger intermediate area for viewing the computer and your immediate work area like the top of your desk. Black Diamond Eye Care can help you determine if these special lenses are appropriate for you.

Dry Eye Syndrome

Dry eye syndrome refers to a breakdown in the quantity or quality of tears to moisten, cleanse and protect the eyes. This is significant because, with each blink, tears protect the surface of the eye, washing away dust and micro-organisms. When this protective coating dries up, the eyes may feel “gritty” or burn and can be more sensitive to light. In extreme cases, vision can be blurred.

The doctors of Black Diamond Eye Care have developed an effective, multiple step Dry Eye Protocol using a number of high quality products designed to help ease your dry eye symptoms from the inside to the outside. For your convenience our locations stock your supplies of PRN Dry Eye Formula re-esterified form fish oils, Oasis Tears Plus eye drops and the Retaine family of drops and ointments for extreme dry eye treatment.

It is estimated that over 30million people in the USA suffer from Dry Eye Syndrome, and 86% of those dry eye sufferers suffer from Meibomian Gland Dysfunction (MGD). Black Diamond Eye Care offers the Alcon iLux MGD treatment. iLux is a handheld device that uses light source heating and compression intended to help your Meibomian glands express oils to protect your tears. iLux is the only handheld FDA approved treatment for MGD uniquely designed to customize treatments for each patient. Patients describe the treatment as a “warm eye massage”. The iLux targeted treatment lasts only about 8 minutes, and typically eases patient’s symptoms for up to 6-8 months.

castle rock vision care

If you suspect that you have dry eye, see your eye doctor. Proper care will not only increase your comfort – it will protect your eyes. Your eye care provider can perform a series of tests to determine if you have dry eyes.

Strabismus

Dry eye syndrome refers to a breakdown in the quantity or quality of tears to moisten, cleanse and protect the eyes. This is significant because, with each blink, tears protect the surface of the eye, washing away dust and microorganisms. When this protective coating dries up, the eyes may feel “gritty” or burn and can be more sensitive to light. In extreme cases, vision can be blurred.

Keratoconus

Keratoconus is a non-inflammatory eye condition which causes progressive degeneration of the cornea and results in a a cone-like bulge. The cause of Keratoconus is not known but it can be inherited from either side of the patient’s family. Most patients are diagnosed in their late teens or early twenties but it is not unusual to be diagnosed later.

In the early stages of the condition, glasses or soft contact lenses can correct vision very well. However, as the cornea continues to thin and bulge, eventually glasses and soft contacts stop correcting the patients vision well enough to function. At this point the patient is often fit into specialty contacts to provide a smoother and more stable surface to focus through. This often results in returning vision to 20/20.

Within the last several years Corneal Cross-linking using Riboflavin has been proven to slow the rate of corneal thinning and extending the amount of time a patient has before needing a Corneal Transplant to replace their degenerated cornea. Not all patients are candidates for Cross-linking and not all patients will need transplant.

Castle Rock Vision Care

Black Diamond Eye Care has the experience and equipment necessary to diagnose and often treat the eye conditions detailed above at our office in Castle Pines. For more information please schedule an appointment with your eye care provider, and we will be in touch with you shortly.