SNAIL-TRACK DEGENERATION

This area of white is on the retina in the far periphery. It can only be seen when the eye is dilated. This occurs often as an inherited trait in near-sighted people. People that have this are more susceptible to developing retinal holes and detachments. This picture is of a young patient with the condition. It was discovered without any symptoms on routine dilation. She was educated to watch for flashes of light, floaters, or a curtain coming over her vision. We will follow up with her on a yearly basis.

METAL IN THE EYE

This mechanic's eye started bothering him on Tuesday. He thought it would go away on it's own but everyday it got worse until I saw him in my office on Saturday. He had metal embedded on his cornea. Removal was quick, will leave no scar, and provided instantaneous relief.

AIR HOCKEY INJURY

This patient was watching an air hockey match when the puck flew off the table and hit his eyelid. It lacerated his lid, which will heal rapidly. I dilated the eye to make sure there was no serious injury to the retina and found this area of whitening on the retina corresponding to the location he was hit.

The whitened area of the retina is what we call Commotio Retinae. It is caused by swelling in the retina from trauma. It resolves in about 6 weeks without any consequence to vision or health of the eye.

RETINAL HOLE

The photo below is of a retinal hole, found on routine dilation during a regular eye exam. Fluid can get under these and lift the retina off. Where ever the retina gets lifted off you can't see. So this patient likely will need laser to sort of "weld" around the hole so that if fluid does get under it, it won't spread.

This case illustrates the importance of routine eye examinations, even for people who don't need glasses or contact lenses.

MORE CONTACT LENS OVER WEAR

This is another patient who overwears Acuvue contact lenses. The above arrow points to where the blood vessels should stop. The lower one points to where they extend into this patient's cornea. Ideally contact lens wearers should give their eyes a few hours a day to breath and a couple days a week. We can replace our cars. We can't replace our eyes! These blood vessels will forever be there. But hopefully, with proper lens wear, they can become "ghost" vessels, with no blood in them.

RETINAL TEAR

Below is a retinal tear discovered on routine eye dilation. The arrow points to the tear which, in 3 dimensions, comes out into the vitreous cavity of the eye. The dark area just above it is actually the shadow of the operculum. Retinal tears eventually cause retina detachments. This can lead to complete and irreversible blindness if not caught in time. This patient had no symptoms.

Every week I catch someone with a retinal tear who had no symptoms. We can only catch these when we dilate the eye. Dilation is no extra charge at Sonoran Desert Eye Center.

RETINAL TEAR

You can enlarge this photo to see the retinal tear. Fluid can get under tears and lead to a retinal detachment quickly if not treated. You should call your eye doctor immediately if you notice sudden flashes of light or unusual floaters.

CONTACT LENS OVER WEAR

This is an example of what happens when people over wear their contact lenses. The cornea is the only structure in the body that gets it's oxygen directly from the air. When we wear contact lenses, unless we have enough waking hours of not wearing the lenses, the cornea becomes starved from oxygen. Blood vessels start to grow into the cornea to feed the starved cells. Over time the health of the cornea becomes compromised, leading to inflammations and vision-threatening infections that can cause permanent loss of vision.

These blood vessels should stop at the limbus, the junction between the white part of the eye and the cornea. As you can see, these blood vessels go much further!