After struggling with blurry vision for years, I finally realized that it was time to consult with a professional. Simply put, I was tired of dealing with the struggles of acting like I could see when I really couldn't. It was embarrassing, and I just wanted to be able to participate like normal. I was nervous for the eye appointment, but my doctor was incredible. He walked me through every aspect of the exam and calmed my fears about permanent eye damage. This blog is all about working with an optometrist to get the vision experience that you really deserve.
Having your child diagnosed with any kind of illness or disease can be frightening—arguably, hearing a bad diagnosis about their vision makes it even worse. The good news is, with regular care from an optometrist, your child can pull through this illness with minimal damage done to their eyes. Here's what you need to know about uveitis particularly and what you need to do to keep your child's vision safe.
What Uveitis Is
Uveitis is an auto-immune disorder. This is a specific type of condition where the white blood cells of the body (which are supposed to attack viruses and bacteria) instead attack healthy cells. It's not entirely understood why some people develop auto-immune disorders and others don't, but there may be a genetic component to it. That is to say, someone in your family may have passed along the genes necessary for uveitis to your child.
What Uveitis Does
Uveitis can cause vision damage. The damage done to the cells can cause chronic inflammation and irritation in the eyes, which can be painful and distort your child's vision to a certain extent. Without care, it's possible to go blind from uveitis. This is why it's so important for you to visit an optometrist regularly and to follow the treatment plan.
Treatment
Most people who get uveitis will be placed on steroid eye drops for treatment. Steroid eye drops are designed to help bring down inflammation by suppressing the immune system in the eyes. It's preferable to give people eye drops instead of a pill or injection because steroids can have a negative effect when they're exposed to the whole body. However, when they're directly applied to the eye, a small enough dose of the steroid can be given that it has next to no negative side effects.
In addition to your child's treatment, they'll need to come to the eye doctor regularly. This is to inspect the eyes for damage to determine if the treatment is adequately controlling the immune system or not.
Uveitis is a worrisome condition for your child to have, but the good news is that it's completely controllable with the right medication and care. Make sure that your child follows a strict schedule of optometrist appointments and to give them their eye drops as often as directed. With your eye doctor's help, you can prevent vision loss. For more information about eye health, contact a local optometrist.
Share17 December 2019
