Schedule an appointment for the whole family and have your eyes and vision checked at Shmunes Vision!
Cataracts & Astigmatism
in Ponte Vedra Beach & Jacksonville
Cataract Treatment
A cataract is when your eye’s natural lens becomes cloudy. Proteins in your lens break down and cause things to look blurry, hazy or less colorful.
Aging is the most common cause. This is due to normal eye changes that happen starting around age 40. That is when normal proteins in the lens start to break down. This is what causes the lens to get cloudy. People over age 60 usually start to have some clouding of their lenses. However, vision problems may not happen until years later. Other cataracts can develop more quickly, such as those in younger people or those in people with diabetes.
Dr. Shmunes will examine and test your eyes to make a cataract diagnosis. The comprehensive eye exam may include dilation eye drops which will widen your pupils.
Cataracts can be removed only with surgery. During cataract surgery, your cloudy natural lens is removed and replaced with a clear artificial lens. That lens is called an intraocular lens (IOL). Contact us today for a consultation about cataract surgery.
Astigmatism Treatment
Astigmatism is very common, and has been determined to be likely an inherited trait. Astigmatism is an imperfection in the curvature of your eye’s cornea or lens. Normally, the cornea and lens are smooth and curved equally in all directions. This helps to focus light rays sharply onto the retina at the back of your eye. If your cornea or lens isn’t smooth and evenly curved, light rays aren’t refracted (bent) properly. Doctors call this a refractive error. When your cornea has an irregular shape, you have corneal astigmatism. When the shape of your lens is distorted, you have lenticular astigmatism. In either case, your vision for both near and far objects is blurry or distorted. It’s almost like looking into a fun house mirror in which you can appear too tall, too short, too wide or too thin.
Adults with significant astigmatism may realize their vision isn’t as good as it should be. Children with astigmatism symptoms may not be aware they have this condition. They are unlikely to complain about blurred or distorted vision. Uncorrected astigmatism can impact a child’s ability to achieve in school and sports. It is crucial that children have regular eye exams. Get these exams to detect astigmatism and other vision problems as early as possible.