Blindness has always been one of the biggest medical challenges that the field of scientific research has been trying over and over for decades to find a definitive solution to, and an effective treatment that guarantees the restoration of sight again after a loss of vision for various health or emergency reasons as a result of trauma and accidents.
Vision loss and its symptoms according to the main causes
Blindness, of course, is the inability to see anything, including light.
If you are partially blind, it means that you have low vision rather than complete lack of vision, according to the science website .
For example, you may have blurry vision or an inability to distinguish the shapes of objects. As for blindness, it means that you cannot see at all.
Medical blindness refers to vision at great risk. What a person with normal vision can see from a distance of 200 feet, a medically blind person can see from a distance of only 20 feet.
However, depending on the cause of your vision loss, prompt treatment and surgery may increase the chances of partially or completely recovering your vision. Treatment may include surgery or medication and drugs.
What are the symptoms of blindness?
If a person suffers from complete blindness, he will not see anything completely, and the vision is darkness and complete darkness without any differences.
If a person has partial blindness, the patient may experience the following symptoms, according to Healthline :
- cloudy vision
- Inability to see shapes.
- Only see shadows.
- Poor night vision.
- tunnel vision.
What causes vision loss?
The following eye diseases and conditions can cause blindness and complete vision loss:
- Glaucoma refers to various eye conditions that can damage the optic nerve, which transmits visual information from your eyes to your brain.
- Macular degeneration destroys the part of the eyes that is responsible for seeing details. It is a disease that usually affects the elderly.
- Cataracts also cause blurry vision. It is also more common in the elderly due to the factors of aging and the symptoms of aging.
- Lazy eye can make it difficult to see details, and without proper treatment it can eventually lead to vision loss.
- Optic neuritis is an inflammation that can cause temporary or permanent vision loss.
- Retinitis pigmentosa refers to damage to the retina. It leads to blindness only in rare cases.
- Tumors affecting the retina or optic nerve can also cause complete blindness.
- Blindness is a possible complication if you also have diabetes or a stroke.
Other common causes of blindness include the following, according to Medical News Today :
- Being born blind.
- Direct eye injuries.
- Eye surgery complications.
How is vision loss treated?
In some cases of visual impairment, one or more of the following may help restore vision even slightly and stop the possibility of losing it completely, either by wearing specialized glasses for appropriate cases of weakness, or through the use of medical contact lenses, surgeries and taking drugs and medications.
However, complete blindness requires dealing with life in a new way and learning new skills. For example, you may need to learn how to read Braille and use a guide dog.
Surgical option to treat vision loss in some specific cases
Eye specialists have made amazing advances in refractive surgery, also known as refractive and laser eye surgery, in recent years.
However, there are many types of vision correction surgeries that differ from surgeries to restore full vision after losing it completely.
Most procedures reshape the cornea so that light passing through it can focus on the retina. While other surgeries take into account to replace the lens of the eye.
Here are the different types of corrective surgeries and what's improved with them, according to the Vistar Eye website for vision problems and eye health:
1- LASIK (laser keratomileusis)
This surgery reshapes the underlying corneal tissue to focus light on the eye and reach the retina.
This procedure is ideal for patients with nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism.
In it, eye surgeons create a flap from the outer layer of the cornea in order to access the underlying tissue.
2- Photorefractive keratectomy - PRK
PRK is a procedure that uses a laser to reshape the cornea. Unlike LASIK, PRK only reshapes the corneal surface to treat partial blindness due to visual impairment in the affected eye.
It is an ideal choice for mild to moderate nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism.
3- Automated lamellar keratoplasty - ALK
ALK can help people with high myopia and low levels of farsightedness, although LASIK has replaced ALK as a method of correction.
In this procedure, the eye specialist creates a flap in the cornea to gain access to the underlying tissue. No laser is used, instead the doctor makes an incision in the sub-layer of the cornea to reshape and correct the vision.
4- Refractive lens exchange - RLE
RLE is a procedure to correct cataracts, a type of partial vision loss. In it, the doctor makes a small incision to remove the eye's natural lens at the edge of the cornea.
Then the lens of the eye is replaced with a silicone or plastic artificial lens. This procedure is also known as CLE (clear lens extraction) or RLR (refractive lens replacement) and can be used to correct severe farsightedness or nearsightedness.
It is also used to correct thin corneas, dry eyes, and other minor eye problems.
5- Presbyopic lens exchange - PRELEX
If the lens of the eye loses its elasticity, the condition is referred to as presbyopia, which is also a type of partial but not complete blindness.
In presbyopia patients have difficulty concentrating on and seeing close objects. During the procedure, the ophthalmologist implants a multifocal lens to improve flexibility and restore vision.
6- Intacs corneal surgery
This surgery is also known as intracorneal ring clips (ICR). In this procedure, the doctor makes a small incision in the cornea, then two plastic rings shaped like a crescent are placed at the outer edge of the cornea to flatten it.
A flat cornea allows light rays to change the way they focus on the retina.
7- Intraocular lens implant surgery
Some patients with severe and severe nearsightedness require intraocular Phakic intraocular lens implantation. In this procedure, the doctor inserts an implant through a very small incision at the edge of the cornea that is attached to the iris behind the pupil. The eye's natural lens is left in place.
In the end, the aforementioned cases of vision loss are largely considered only partial blindness and not complete, and their causes are due to certain medical conditions that can be corrected. Therefore, a person with complete blindness may not have an option to restore his vision by obtaining it.
In some cases of blindness from head trauma, it may be possible to undergo brain surgery to correct the underlying problem that has caused the person's vision to be disconnected from its primary source of operation in the brain.
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