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Ocular Disease Management
At Turlock Eyecare, our licensed eye care providers are equipped to manage a wide range of ocular diseases in addition to providing you with your corrective lens prescriptions. We pride ourselves on offering comprehensive services for your convenience. From eye infections and inflammatory conditions to dry eye and neurological issues, our experienced doctors are here to diagnose and manage your eye health conditions with care and compassion. With specialized testing and advanced equipment in our office we ensure that your eye care needs are thoroughly met. Thanks to our large team of support staff, our providers can spend more time discussing your condition and answering your questions one-on-one.
Eye Infections
Eye infections can be frightening, especially when your vision is affected. Eye infections can be caused by a bacteria, a virus or a fungus. They can be localized and only affect the eye or they can be related to a systemic (body) infection. One well known example of a systemic viral infection that can also effect the eye, is commonly known as Shingles.
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Eye redness can sometimes be a sign of infection, but not in all cases. This is one reason why an in-person visit with an eye care specialist who can examine your eye tissues with a microscope is critical. The eye care provider needs to figure out which tissues are infected in order to develop an effective treatment strategy.
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Some infections can be caused by pathogens in our environment directly coming into contact with our cornea. This is typically the case with contact lens wearers. They are more susceptible to sight-threatening corneal infections such as Acanthamoeba and Pseudomonas. It is important to have your eye checked promptly if you have any signs of infection and you wear contacts. Practicing healthy contact lens habits and having your annual corneal check up is the best way to prevent contact lens related infections.
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An eye infection is typically treatable when diagnosed early enough. Depending on the diagnosis, your eye doctor may prescribe eye drops, pills or a combination of several treatments. It is important to always take medications as prescribed and to attend any follow up appointments so your doctor can check your progress and monitor for any side effects or other complications.
Inflammatory Conditions
Inflammation not only affects the body, but it can affect our eyes. Uncontrolled inflammation in the body can present in ocular tissues such as the iris (colored part of the eye), conjunctiva or sclera (white part of the eye), and choroid (tissue behind the retina). This type of inflammation can be very painful in addition to causing vision problems.
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Patients with autoimmune disorders such as Thyroid Eye Disease (or Graves Disease), Lupus, Sjogren's Syndrome or Rheumatoid Arthritis are more likely to encounter inflammatory eye diseases. Other conditions such as rosacea are inflammatory in nature and can affect ocular tissues.
Inflammation can cause a range of conditions, from severe dry eye syndrome to iritis, uveitis, chorioretinitis, or optic neuritis. The treatment and visual prognosis varies greatly among these conditions, but in all cases it is important to establish with a doctor who is trained to diagnose and manage these chronic and often recurrent ocular diseases.
Some medications that are prescribed to control inflammatory disorders can have risk of toxicity to ocular tissues, such as hydroxychloroquine. Make sure to inform your eye doctor about all of the medications you are taking so that we can order the appropriate diagnostic tests to monitor for any issues that may arise. With your permission, your Turlock Eyecare team can communicate with your rheumatologist and primary care doctors to ensure your condition is managed the effectively.
Neurological Conditions
Your eyes are a part of your brain, it's really the only place we can look directly at your neurological tissue in the form of your retina and optic nerve. Additionally, by evaluating your pupillary responses, visual field and eye muscle movements, your eye care provider can gain insight into aspects your neurological function.
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Turlock Eyecare providers do a comprehensive exam which means they are screening for abnormalities at every eye exam. We also see patients who are having acute eye issues from vision loss, pain, double vision and visual disturbances. Our providers go the extra mile when they uncover concerning ocular conditions, to make sure that the underlying issue is addressed promptly and thoroughly.
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Examples of neuro ocular conditions that Turlock Eyecare providers encounter:
- cranial nerve palsies
- Bell's palsy
- optic neuritis secondary to MS
- optic nerve disorders
- pupil abnormalities
- papilledema (idiopathic intracranial hypertension, previously known as pseudotumor cerebri)
- ocular migraine
- thyroid eye disease