Cornea:
It is the transparent layer that covers the eyes from the outside and that focuses light on the eye.
Keratoconus:
It is a vision disorder that occurs when the cornea weakens and bulges outward like a cone, and this leads to the failure to focus light properly on the retina, causing blurry vision, which makes daily tasks (such as: reading or driving) difficult, often affects both eyes, and can lead to a sharp difference in vision between the eyes.
Causes:
Doctors do not know the cause of infection, in some cases it is hereditary, as they are associated with:
- Eye allergy
- Excessive eye rubbing
- Connective tissue disorders (e.g. Marfan syndrome).
Symptoms:
In the early stage, keratoconus symptoms can include:
- Mild blurry vision.
- Blurred vision (e.g.: straight lines are bent or wavy).
- Sensitivity to light and glare
- Redness or swelling of the eye
- In advanced stages (usually takes years to go from early stage to advanced stage) symptoms often include:
- Blurred vision.
- Increased nearsightedness or astigmatism.
- Inability to wear contact lenses.
Treatment:
The treatment depends on the symptoms. When symptoms are mild, vision can be corrected with medical glasses, and the patient may need to wear special contact lenses later, to help keep vision in proper focus, the following are other methods of treatment:
- Surgery: The doctor places a small curved device in the cornea, which helps flatten the curvature of the cornea to improve vision.
- The doctor uses a special ultraviolet light and eye drops to strengthen the cornea, which helps flatten or stiffen the cornea; Which prevents it from swelling further.
- When symptoms are severe, the doctor may suggest a corneal transplant, in which all or part of the diseased cornea is replaced with corneal tissue from a donor.
Instructions for people with keratoconus:
- Avoid rubbing the eye, as this can damage the delicate corneal tissue and worsen symptoms.
- See a doctor when itching in the eyes.