Dr. Stephen Sinclair

Areas of thinning of the peripheral retina, the film in the back of your eye. These need to be examined regularly, about every 6 months with special viewing equipment, as they are prone sometimes to tears. If you see sudden onset of floaters in the vision of an eye you need to be seen that day to make sure the retina is not torn at one of those areas of lattice (looks like lattice work in a garden, hence the name!)

Yes- this can be caused by a number of problems in the back of the eye. See a retina specialist

You must see an ophthalmologist who will dilate your pupil to look at the retina in the back and make sure no severe injury.

This is a problem and your son should see an ophthalmologist

This could possibly be serious and he should see an ophthalmologist

A retina physician specializes in diseases of the back of the eye, "the film in the back of the camera". After measuring the vision and intraocular pressure, they will dilate both pupils with drops and examine and often photograph the retina as so much more can be defined about what is going on.

You should see an ophthalmologist. It is not a mole but an infected gland in the lid that can form pus

The surgeon makes a number of needle-like incisions into the eye to remove the vitreous gel (vitrectomy). These are usually self-sealing, but the eye needs a hard cover protection for about 2 weeks to allow these to seal with scar. The doctor wishes to prevent any risk for infection getting into the eye through those wounds, so commonly an antibiotic solution is injected under the surface of the lids (conjunctiva) at the end of surgery and antibiotic drops (along with steroids) are given to take starting the following day.

Stephen Sinclair, MD

Think of the eyeball as being inflated by fluid that is produced inside and then has to filter out keeping the eye inflated at a certain pressure so that, like a camera, it can take a good picture and transmit the image to the brain through the optic nerve. Glaucoma involves an increased pressure in the eye, which alone, if over 25 means opportunity for progressive injury to the optic nerve. The optic nerve needs to be examined carefully and regularly, hopefully with a good examination through a pupil dilated with drops, but can be done better examined with a camera (through a dilated pupil) with a special OCT without dilation. If there are changes, even if the pressure is normal, this can mean glaucoma. Finally the "transmission to the brain" can be examined by a visual field (testing peripheral vision) which should be done regularly if there are any changes in the other two measures.

Hot moist compresses twice a day to both eyes with washcloth at least 3-5 minutes combined with =E2=80=9Cfrequent=E2=80=9D artificial tears=3D use the longer duration, more viscous tears such as Systane Ultra or Soothe XP (last longer). If using 4X per day or more use only the =E2=80=9Cpreservative free=E2=80=9D. If you can keep them in the fridge as they will feel great when instilled cool. Start with >10 per day to see the effect and then after 4-5 ays you can trickle back to see the effect of lesser frequency drops.

Stephen Sinclair, MD

Is this primarily with glare from oncoming (HID) lights? If so, buy over-the-counter pale yellow, night driving glasses. If this is primarily "I can't drive a road without white lines at night because I can't see well and can't see good depth perception," then this may be macular disease, which needs to be discovered early (and treated) by retinal imaging, not examination alone.

Cloudy vision with bright colors is most often due to lens changes in the eye. In all of us as we age, the lens inside the eye, similar to the lens in the camera, does the focusing. However, it is a bag of gel that can become more crystalized causing haze. If this is the case, how old are you? If "mature," this could be the early stages of a cataract. Sometimes retinal disease (film in the back of the camera) can become less sensitive to light and color contrasts -- is this under bright or dim conditions? If the the two eyes are different in the perception (cover each eye as you look), then see an eye doctor to get special scans of the retina.

Stephen Sinclair, MD

Dry eyes= the tear film diminishes as we age, leaving us often with insufficient tear volume, and in addition we also all suffer inflammation in the back side of the lids that messes with the the oil glands that produce oils onto the tear film to spread out the tears and prevent evaporation. On dry days or windy days, or if you are concentrating at what you are looking at, your blinking rate goes way down, aggravating the situation (the eyes actually water in response to the irritation produced by the dryness). We all recommend hot moist compresses twice a day (for 3-5 minutes) with the use of over the counter artificial tears

Floaters are caused by the contracture of the gel within the eye with aging. This "vitreous" gel fills the inside of the eye when we are born and are young, but then contracts progressively with aging until it pulls away from the back of the eye (the retina= the film that lays flat agains the back of the eye". This may pull bits and pieces from the retina that are then floating inside the eye, but sometimes it can pull hard enough that it tears the retina and and then produce a detachment of the retina, which is serious and can cause blindness. You need to have your eyes examined right away to rule out a retinal tear. If there is no tear, the eye is usually left alone as the floaters diminish with time over months. If the floaters remain burdensome, the gel can be removed with vitreous surgery.