Optometry Archives

What Is Visual Agnosia? How It Happens and How to Treat It

Written By Michael Healy

Agnosia is a rare condition that affects the senses. Imagine smelling a rose and not being able to place the smell. Imagine eating mom’s chocolate chip cookies, but finding out you don’t recognize the taste.

While it’s likely you know someone who temporarily lost his or her sense of smell or taste as a result of Covid, it seems almost impossible for someone to no longer be able to look at a common object, word, or even face, and be unable to tell what or who it is. However, that’s exactly what happens when someone is afflicted by a rare condition known as visual agnosia.

Defining visual agnosia

According to the United Brain Association, agnosia is a communication disorder that disrupts and impairs the brain’s ability to process sensory cues, most commonly visual and auditory cues.

Visual agnosia specifically disrupts your brain’s ability to process and understand what you are seeing with your eyes. In other words, your eyes are working correctly and as they normally would, but your brain is not.

As the medical community learns more about visual agnosia, they have come to understand there are actually several different types of the condition, including types that specifically affect your ability to recognize common objects (akinetopsia), words (alexia), colors (achromatopsia), and even familiar faces (prosopagnosia).

What to Expect with Cataract Surgery

Written By Courtney Dryer

In the U.S., there were 24.4 million cases of cataracts in 2010, and the number is expected to double to 50 million by 2050, according to the National Eye Institute.

What is a cataract?

A cataract is a clouding of the crystalline lens inside the eye which leads to a decline in vision. Aging is the most common reason for a cataract, but other factors include disease, trauma, and certain medications. Most cataracts grow slowly over decades, but some may progress more quickly.

The crystalline lens is the structure located in the middle of the eye, in front of the retina, but behind the iris (colored part). All light that enters the eye goes through the cornea and the lens to get to the retina. If a cataract is affecting the lens, distorted vision is the result. Glasses and contacts are unable to correct the vision until the cataract is removed.

Optometrist, Ophthalmologist, & Optician: What’s the Difference?

Written By Michael Healy

Have you started to notice subtle changes in your vision? Maybe you need to squint a bit when reading or perhaps you notice more frequent headaches or even some hazy, double vision while driving. If anything sounds familiar, it might be time to schedule an eye exam. But who should you see? Should you schedule an appointment with an ophthalmologist, an optometrist, or an optician?

Whatever happened to the good ole eye doctor? If you are struggling to choose the right type of specialist to visit when you are experiencing an issue with your vision, you’re not alone. Many people are confused when it comes to understanding the difference between ophthalmologists, optometrists, and opticians.

Ophthalmologists, optometrists, and opticians are all eye care professionals with a specific role in helping diagnose, treat, and care for your eyes. However, where the specialties differ is the level of training specifically required for the services provided by each type of provider.

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Nearsighted vs. Farsighted: Treating Common Refractive Errors

Written By Michael Healy

Roughly 194 million Americans and over 1.4 billion people worldwide wear glasses or contact lenses, according to The Vision Council. It’s estimated 75% of adults currently require, or will require, vision correction at some point in their lives.

While there are a number of reasons people wear glasses, most often it is to correct what is known as a refractive error. The National Eye Institute defines a refractive error as a vision issue that occurs as a result of changes in the shape of your eye that prevents light from correctly focusing on the retina. As a result, images often become blurred, distorted, and out of focus while also contributing to physical discomforts including headaches, double vision, and eye strain.

What Happens at a Routine Eye Exam?

Written By Louise Wood

You’ve booked your first eye examination… Do you need to prepare? Will it hurt? How long will it take? These are all reasonable questions I get asked regularly, so allow me to help you understand what to expect at a routine eye exam.