Blepharitis

Ptosis is a drooping of the upper eyelid. It can affect one or both eyes and may sometimes be noticeable or severe enough to cover the pupil and block vision. It occurs when the muscle that lifts the eyelid (levator muscle) is weak or damaged. It can happen in children in the congenital form, and in the elderly in the senile form.

Disease

Symptoms

The main sign is a sagging upper eyelid. In severe cases, you may need to tilt your head back or raise your eyebrows to see clearly, which can lead to forehead aches and fatigue. Causes vary: it can be present at birth (congenital), develop with age as the muscle stretches, or result from injury, neurological conditions, or certain eye surgeries.

Diagnosis

An eye doctor will measure the height of your eyelid, the strength of the eyelid muscle, and assess how much it affects your field of vision.

Treatments

Treatment is usually surgical. The procedure (called a ptosis repair) tightens the levator muscle or connects the eyelid to the forehead muscles to restore a more normal lid position. Surgery is recommended if the drooping blocks vision (especially in children, to prevent amblyopia) or for cosmetic improvement in adults (cosmetic blepharoplasty).

More to read

Disease

Cataract

A cataract is a clouding of the eye's natural, clear lens. Think of it as a clear window that slowly becomes frosted. This clouding scatters light, preventing a sharp image from reaching the retina. It is most commonly related to aging. However, some forms of congenital cataract are seen in children.

Disease

Refractive Error

Refractive error means that your eye does not focus light ideally onto the retina, resulting in a blurred image on the retina. This condition is not a disease, but a common problem with light focusing. Its main types include myopia (nearsightedness: nearby objects are clear while distant objects appear blurry), hyperopia (farsightedness: distance vision may be clearer than near vision), and astigmatism (vision is blurry at all distances due to an irregularly shaped cornea).

Disease

Night Blindness

Night blindness is a symptom, not a disease. It means your eyes have trouble adapting to low light. This is often due to a problem with the rod cells in your retina, which are responsible for night and peripheral vision.

Disease

Color Blindness

Most color blindness is not complete blindness to color, but a difficulty telling certain colors apart. It is usually an inherited condition (more common in males) present from birth. It happens when certain light-sensitive cone cells in your retina don't work properly. The most common type is trouble distinguishing reds from greens.

Disease

Retinopathy of Prematurity

ROP is a disease that affects premature infants. In the womb, the retinal blood vessels grow late in pregnancy. When a baby is born very early, this normal growth is interrupted. After birth, abnormal, fragile blood vessels may begin to grow in the retina. These vessels can leak and scar, potentially pulling the retina off (detachment).

Disease

Retinal Detachment

A retinal detachment is a medical emergency. It occurs when the retina peels away from the back wall of the eye, like wallpaper bubbling off a wall. When detached, the retina cannot function, leading to vision loss.