Medical Eye Care

Ophthalmology Associates can treat medical eye conditions such as infections, styes, double vision, floaters and flashes, spots and eye injuries. Please contact us to schedule an appointment if you are experiencing symptoms of a medical eye condition. If you are in need of immediate care, please call 911.

Please allow 60-90 minutes when dilation is included in your medical eye exam.

Common Medical Eye Conditions

Medical eye conditions such as eye infections occur when bacteria, fungi and viruses invade any part of the eyeball or area surrounding the eye. This includes the clear surface of the eye (cornea) and the thin, moist membrane lining the outer and inner eyelid (conjunctiva). Some examples of viral, fungal and bacterial eye infections include:

• Pink Eye or Conjunctivitis
• Viral Keratitis
• Fungal Keratitis
• Acanthamoeba Keratitis
• Trachoma
• Endophthalmitis

Symptoms of an eye infection include red eyes, pain, eye discharge, watery eyes, dry eyes, light sensitivity, swollen eyes, swelling around the eyes, itching or blurred vision. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms or suspect and eye infection, contact Ophthalmology Associates. Trying to self-diagnose your condition can delay effective treatment and potential harm your sight.

Eye Injuries

Some common eye injuries, such as deep puncture wounds, could require emergency treatment or surgery to prevent permanent eye damage resulting in vision loss. Some minor surface scratches may only require simple monitoring after an initial office visit to make sure complications such as infections don’t occur. Some examples of eye injuries include:

• Scratched eye (corneal abrasion)
• Penetrating or foreign object In the eye
• Caustic foreign substance In the eye (chemical burn)
• Eye swelling
• Subconjunctival hemorrhages (eye bleeding)
• Traumatic iritis
• Hyphemas and orbital blowout fractures

For all eye injuries, contact Ophthalmology Associates immediately for advice. If an eye injury occurs outside of normal office hours, we offer 24-access that you can connect with the on-call ophthalmologist using our answering service. If immediate care is needed, please call 911.

Stye

A stye is a localized infection in the eyelid that causes a tender, red bump near the edge of the lid. The infection is caused by bacteria and can occur at the base of the eyelash or within one of the small oil glands within the eyelid. The first signs of a stye are pain, redness, swelling and tenderness. Styes typically don’t cause vision problems however other common eye conditions can accompany a stye. Most styes heal on their own and applying hot compress for 10 to 15 minutes, three to four times a day for several days will aid in the healing process. Much like a pimple, a stye should never be popped.

Double Vision

If you start seeing double images when your eyes normally work well together, this is a serious medical eye condition and should be taken seriously. While double vision may be temporary for reasons such as drinking too much alcohol or being overly tired, if it is long-lasting or keeps coming back could be related to:

• Stroke, head injury, brain tumor, brain swelling or brain aneurysm
• Corneal irregularities
• Dry eyes
• Refractive surgery
• Cataracts
• Cranial nerve palsies

Dry Eye Syndrome

Dry eye syndrome is a chronic and typically progressive medical eye condition. Depending on its cause and severity, it may not be completely curable. But in most cases, dry eyes can be managed successfully, usually resulting in noticeably greater eye comfort, fewer dry eye symptoms and sometimes sharper vision as well. Treating eye conditions such as dry eyes can include:

• Artificial tears
• Restasis
• Xiidra
• Steroid eye drops
• Lacrisert
• Punctual plugs
• Meibomian gland expression
• Warm compresses
• LipiFlow
• Nutritional supplements

Eye Floaters, Flashes and Spots

Eye floaters are tiny spots, specks, flecks and cobwebs that drift aimlessly around in your field of vision. While they are annoying, ordinary eye floaters and spots are very common eye conditions and usually aren’t cause for concern. However, if you see a shower of floaters and spots, especially if they are accompanied by flashes of light, you should seek medical attention immediately from Ophthalmology Associates. The sudden appearance of these symptoms is a medical eye condition and could mean that the vitreous is pulling away from your retina—a condition called posterior vitreous detachment.