How to Improve Your Eye Care Knowledge: Learn about eye vision and tips to prevent loss of vision

How to Improve Your Eye Care Knowledge

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If you're keen to become involved in eye care, whether you're already medically qualified, or you're aiming to do some studies, here are some steps to help you get started.

Steps

1. Decide the type of eye care specialization that is of interest to you. Study for the appropriate degree and qualifications at university level. If you are already qualified in medical care of some sort, find out what bridging course you might need to undertake.
2. Learn about different eye disorders that you will need to be familiar with treating. Some of the more common ones are:
   • Trichotillomania is a disorder characterized by compulsive hair or eyelash pulling. The exact cause is not known.
   • Glaucoma disease - this is characterized by elevated intraocular pressure, which causes optic nerve damage and subsequent peripheral vision loss. Most people have no initial symptoms of chronic (open-angle) glaucoma, but you can develop peripheral vision loss, headaches, blurred vision, difficulty adapting to darkness and halos around lights. Other forms of glaucoma (e.g., closed-angle glaucoma) may have additional symptoms such as eye pain, a pupil that doesn't respond to light, redness, nausea and a bulging eye.
   • Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) - This is a common complication of surgery for retinal detachment, which causes scarring of the retina. PVR may require a vitrectomy and intricate surgical removal of scar tissue.
   • Photokeratitis "Sunburn" of the cornea - THe symptoms include discomfort, blurred vision, and light sensitivity. The temporary vision loss that can result is called "snow blindness."
   • Ischemia Poor blood flow. Obstructions such as clots in veins and arteries can block blood flow, depriving tissue of oxygen and nutrients. These blockages also can cause "eye strokes" and sudden vision loss.
   • Accommodation disorder - Accommodation refers to the eye's ability to automatically change focus from seeing at a distance to seeing at near. Accommodation disorders have a variety of causes. Symptoms include blurred vision, double vision, eyestrain, headache, fatigue and difficulty concentrating (particularly while reading). Presbyopia is an accommodation disorder that affects everyone if they become old enough, since its causes relate to the aging of the eyes.
   • Virus: A microorganism smaller than a bacteria, which cannot grow or reproduce apart from a living cell. A virus invades living cells and uses their chemical machinery to keep itself alive and to replicate itself. It may reproduce with fidelity or with errors (mutations)-this ability to mutate is responsible for the ability of some viruses to change slightly in each infected person, making treatment more difficult.
3. Learn some of the common terms related to eye care:
   • Anti-reflective coating (AR coating) - Thin layer(s) applied to a lens to reduce the amount of reflected light and glare that reaches the eye. Read up on anti-reflective coatings.
   • Pars plana Posterior part of the eye's ciliary body.
   • Corneal ring - A type of vision correction surgery where a doctor inserts a tiny plastic ring into the cornea (which lets light into the eye). This ring reshapes the cornea, helping it to focus light better onto the retina so you can see better. The ring can be adjusted and even removed if desired.

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