Clincal Services
Eye Exams
Why are eye exams important?
Regardless of your age or physical health, it is important to have eye exams performed regularly. Many vision and eye problems have no symptoms or outward signs, so it’s easy to be unaware that problems exist. Practicing preventative care through periodic eye and vision examinations is important for early diagnosis and treatment of eye and vision problems, for maintaining good vision and eye health, and when possible, for preventing vision loss.
How often should I schedule an eye exam?
For those aged 18-60 years of age, a routine eye exam should be done every two years, while those over 60 should get an eye exam on an annual basis.
What happens during a comprehensive eye exam?
Routine eye exams are quick and painless and can detect problems long before any damage is caused to your eyes and vision. During your eye exam, we will check the inner and outer structures of the eye for signs of disease. We also test your visual acuity using a Snellen chart (the alphabet printed on a chart with different sized letters) to see how clearly you can see. This test is performed on each eye separately.
Other tests include a visual field test, color vision testing, a refraction assessment and glaucoma screening. The Glaucoma test measures the pressure inside your eye to determine the risk of glaucoma.
During your exam, your eyes will be dilated to enable the physician to see the inner parts of your eye such as the retina and back of your eye. This will help determine your overall eye health. We recommend a driver accompany you to the office since your vision will remain blurry for a few hours.
Our clinic is the largest full service medical and surgical eye care facility in the Texoma area. Be proactive about your eye health and schedule an appointment for an eye exam today.
Dry Eye
What causes Dry Eye?
Dry eye is a common condition that occurs when the body’s natural tears are not able to provide enough lubrication to your eyes. This is often due to inadequate or unstable tear production. This can lead to eye irritation, inflammation, and possible damage to the eye’s surface. Various factors contribute to dry eyes such as age, hormone changes, medications, diet, allergens/irritants, lifestyle, and various health conditions.
How to treat Dry Eye
Dry eyes feel scratchy and uncomfortable. They may sting and even burn at times. Treatment for dry eyes provides the needed lubrication in the form of tear supplements or eye drops. Other treatments may include lifestyle and nutritional changes.
Common Symptoms of Dry Eyes may include:
- Dryness
- Scratchy or Gritty Sensation
- Itching
- Burning and/or Stinging
- Pain and/or Soreness
- Eye Redness
- Difficulty opening eyelids
- Excess tearing or watery eyes
- Blurring of vision that may change with each blink
- Eye discharge
Our clinic is the largest full service medical and surgical eye care facility in the Texoma area. Be proactive about your eye health and schedule an appointment for an eye exam today.
Glaucoma
What is Glaucoma?
Glaucoma is a group of eye conditions that progressively damage the optic nerve, which is vital for sight. Damage caused by glaucoma is permanent and vision loss to glaucoma cannot be restored. There may be no warnings or symptoms. Early detection is critical.
What Causes Glaucoma?
The optic nerve is the main nerve connection from your eyes to your brain. This connection transmits messages to the brain, where the brain interprets what your eyes see. Damage to the optic nerve is often caused by abnormally high pressure in your eye, decreased blood flow to the eye, or genetics. Untreated glaucoma leads to permanent blindness.
How is Glaucoma diagnosed?
Early detection is critical to controlling the progression of the disease and preventing further damage. Comprehensive eye examinations including tests to measure the pressure in your eyes (tonometry), observing the appearance of the optic nerve (ophthalmoscopy) and drainage angles (gonioscopy), and checking for any loss in peripheral vision (visual field testing) are all critical steps in your care to properly diagnosing glaucoma.
Common Risk Factors for Glaucoma:
- Adults over the age of 60
- Consistent elevated eye pressures
- Diabetes
- Genetics or family history
- Ocular migraine sufferers
- Extreme nearsightedness (myopic)
- Low blood pressure (hypotension)
- Eye trauma
Our clinic is the largest full service medical and surgical eye care facility in the Texoma area. Be proactive about your eye health and schedule an appointment for an eye exam today.
Macular Degeneration
What is macular degeneration?
Macular degeneration is a common, painless eye disease affecting the macula (the center portion of the retina located at the back of the eye), causing loss of central vision.
What causes Macular Degeneration?
Most often due to advanced age, this eye disease occurs when there are changes to the macula, a small portion of the retina that is located on the inside back layer of the eye.
Diagnosing Macular Degeneration
If experiencing any of the above signs or symptoms, contact the Young Eye Group immediately for a comprehensive eye examination. Tests will determine if you have macular degeneration or any other eye health problems.
Common Risk Factors include:
- Smoking
- Genetics or family history
- UV Light Exposure
- Poor nutrition
- Lack of exercise
Our clinic is the largest full service medical and surgical eye care facility in the Texoma area. Be proactive about your eye health and schedule an appointment for an eye exam today.
Our clinic is the largest full service medical and surgical eye care facility in the Texoma area. Be proactive about your eye health and schedule an appointment for an eye exam today.
Diabetic Retinopathy
What is Diabetic Retinopathy?
Diabetic retinopathy is an eye disease that people with diabetes may face as a complication of diabetes, causing severe vision loss or even blindness.
What causes Diabetic Retinopathy?
Diabetic retinopathy can arise as a result of the high blood sugar levels that diabetes causes. Over time, having too much sugar (glucose) in the blood can damage blood vessels throughout the body, including the eyes (specifically in the retina – or back of the eye).
The retina is a tissue that detects light and sends signals to the brain through the optic nerve. If sugar blocks the tiny blood vessels that go into the retina, it can cause them to leak or bleed. The eye may then grow new blood vessels that are weak and/or leaky. The eye may also accumulate fluid due to high blood sugar and then this causes changes to the shape of the lens, causing changes in vision. Once blood sugar levels are under control, the lens usually returns to its original shape and vision will improve.
In some cases, diabetic retinopathy can lead to a detached retina. This complication can happen if scar tissue pulls the retina away from the back of the eye. It usually causes the appearance of floating spots in the individual’s field of vision, flashes of light, and severe vision loss. A detached retina presents a significant risk of total vision loss if a person does not get treatment.
Common Symptoms:
- Blurry vison
- Impaired vision or loss of vision
- Floaters (spots or dark strings floating in your vision)
- Fluctuation of vision
- Impaired color vision
- Dark or empty areas in your vision
How is Diabetic Retinopathy Diagnosed?
Diabetic retinopathy generally starts without any noticeable change in the vision. However, our eye specialists can detect the signs. It is important that people with diabetes have an eye examination at least once a year or when a doctor recommends that they do so.
The following methods can help diagnose diabetic retinopathy:
Dilated eye exam
For a dilated eye exam, the doctor places drops into the person’s eyes. These drops dilate the pupils and allow the doctor to view the inside of the eye.
They will take photographs of the eye’s interior to look for the presence of abnormalities in the blood vessels, optic nerve, or retina, cataracts, changes in eye pressure, new blood vessels, retinal detachment, or scar tissue.
These eye drops and the bright lights of the photographs can feel uncomfortable. In high risk individuals, the eye drops may cause an increase in ocular pressure.
Optical coherence tomography
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive imaging scan that provides high resolution cross-sectional images of the retina, revealing its thickness and allowing eye doctors to look for cysts or swelling. The Doctor can perform scans before and after treatments to check how effective treatment has been. OCT is similar to ultrasound testing, but it uses light rather than sound to produce images. The scan can also aid the detection of diseases of the optic nerve.