Did you ever play the game where you asked the people you were hanging out with if they’d rather be blind or deaf? It’s a hard decision to make, because both senses are very important to us humans. The average person, when asked this question, will say that they’d rather be deaf than blind, and will state that the reason they want to keep their eyesight is so that they can see things. They feel that they’ll be less handicapped as a deaf person than they will as a blind person. While both handicaps have their hardships, it can be deathly scary to think about going blind, especially if you’re someone who has enjoyed good eyesight your entire life. But there are many conditions, such as retinal degeneration, which can cause you to completely lose your vision.
What Is Retinal Degeneration?
The retina is a very important part of your eye, and the macular part of the eye is located smack dab in the center of the retina. The retina is so important because it has the job of converting the images that we see into electrical pulses that the brain is able to recognize. Without a functioning retina, we are blind. And yet every year thousands of senior citizens are diagnosed with macular degeneration, which steals their vision. There are two different types of this degeneration: wet and dry.
Dry macular degeneration happens when the cells that are in the macular area start to break down. This usually happens in just one eye, although most who suffer from it find that their other eye is eventually affected as well. The breakdown can be slow, which is good news for someone who is diagnosed with it since it means that there is a possibility of the eye being treated. Laser eye surgery can be used to help beat back the degeneration so that you are able to keep the eyesight that you have.
The wet form of macular degeneration happens when blood vessels start to form behind the retina. This means that liquid is often released, and occasionally blood, into an area where there should be no liquid. It occurs extremely fast and many who are diagnosed with this condition are rushed to a cornea specialist in order to help save their eyesight. Unfortunately, this is the most dangerous type of the disease to get because it can quickly steal your eyesight.
Fortunately, there are ways to beat back macular degeneration, and you can take an active role in this by scheduling regular checkups with your doctor. If you are older, you may want to have an optometrist who is also a glaucoma specialist since the risk of macular degeneration increases with age. But make sure to schedule regular checkups with a qualified optometrist. The sooner your eyes are diagnosed when there is a problem, the more opportunity that you have for keeping your vision, thanks to the many different treatment options available.
About the Author: Mark Masters has authored may pieces on the eye care & surgery industry and enjoys keeping his readers up to date in this field











