Although eye problems are not rare, the collective awareness regarding the risk of vision loss is quite nearsighted. Some of the population tend to think that as long as they do not need glasses or any other form of corrective eyewear, they simply need to give whatever eye condition they have developed time to get better on its own.
However, it is worth noting a wide selection of eye diseases require early detection and professional intervention because they pose the risk of complete vision loss. Being aware of these eye problems as well as knowing your risk of developing them can go a long way in salvaging your eyesight. The following is a summary on a couple of vision problems that would necessitate eye surgery.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is an eye condition that is triggered by the accumulation of pressure in the eye. If this pressure is not released, it will lead to severe damage to the optic nerve, resulting in blindness. When caught early, there is a couple of ways that your eye surgeon can address this condition. The first is via laser surgery. Although more expensive than traditional surgery, laser surgery offers the benefit of being a quick outpatient procedure. Post-laser surgery, your vision will be blurry and you may experience discomfort in your eye, but these symptoms are short-lived, so you can go about your daily activities in a couple of days.
Traditional glaucoma surgery, although an outpatient procedure, takes a bit longer than its laser counterpart does. Moreover, you will contend with symptoms such as severe redness and watery eyes post-surgery. Admittedly, conventional surgery will be more affordable, but you should be prepared to be out of commission for at least a week.
Cataracts
Although usually associated with the elderly, there are myriad other risk factors that would cause you to develop this eye condition. Aspects such as obesity, directly exposing your eyes to UV rays, smoking, high blood pressure, genetic predisposition and many more will also increase your likelihood of developing cataracts. The main symptom to be wary of is your vision becoming progressively cloudy, which is attributed to the cataract forming over your eye lens.
Therefore, to correct this form of vision loss, you would need to get eye surgery so that the doctor can extract the damaged eye lens and replace it with a synthetic one. Fortunately, cataract surgery is an outpatient procedure and does not take more than an hour to complete. Nonetheless, you will need someone to pick you up from the eye surgeon's office as well as care for you as you heal since your eyesight will be hazy for the first few days post-surgery. You should also be prepared for potential itchiness as the affected eye heals.
