How is amblyopia (lazy eye) treated?
Treatment for amblyopia is aimed at making the affected eye work to catch up with the dominant eye. This can be done by blocking the strong eye with an eye patch or a dark contact lens (occlusion) or by blurring the dominant eye with eyedrops or glasses (penalization). This causes the brain to use the weak eye. Over time, this usually corrects the vision in the weak eye.

How is glaucoma treated?
Glaucoma is usually controlled by eye drops taken several times a day, occasionally in combination with pills. These medications work by lowering pressure inside the eye and must be taken regularly to be effective. Laser surgery can also be effective in treating both open-angle and angle-closure glaucoma. Finally, operative surgery in which a new drainage channel is created for fluid to leave the eye may be needed to control glaucoma.

What can I do to slow down or prevent macular degeneration?
Macular degeneration is not preventable. A recent study did show vitamins including zinc are protective regarding progressive macular degenerative pathology.

What Causes Dry Eyes? How is it treated?
In addition to an imbalance in the tear-flow system of the eye, dry eye can be caused by the drying out of the tear film. This can be due to dry air created by air conditioning, heat, or other environmental conditions.

Though dry eyes cannot be cured, there are a number of steps that can be taken to treat them, including artificial tears, punctal occlusion or surgery.

What causes retinal detachment? How is is treated?
Retinal detachment most often results from posterior vitreous detachment, an often harmless condition that commonly affects older adults. Injury to the eye, a blow to the head, eye disease, and conditions such as diabetes can lead to retinal detachment at any age.

Treatment for retinal detachment always involves surgery. Surgery can repair most retinal detachments and restore good vision in many cases.

What is a cataract?
A cataract is a clouding of the natural lens, the part of the eye responsible for focusing light and producing clear, sharp images.

What is allergic conjunctivitis? How is it treated?
Conjunctivitis, commonly known as pink eye, is an infection of the conjunctiva (the outer-most layer of the eye that covers the sclera).

Allergy-associated conjunctivitis may disappear completely, either when the allergy is treated with antihistamines, or when the allergen is removed.

What is diabetic retinopathy?
Patients with diabetes are more likely to develop eye problems such as cataracts and glaucoma, but the disease’s affect on the retina is the main threat to vision.

What is glaucoma?
Glaucoma is a disease of the optic nerve which is usually associated with high pressure inside the eye. It is a leading cause of blindness affecting an estimated two million people in the United States. Loss of sight from glaucoma can be prevented through early detection and treatment by an ophthalmologist.

What is strabismus?
Strabismus is a vision problem in which the eyes are misaligned, meaning they do not both look at the same point at the same time. For example, while one eye looks straight ahead, the other may turn the wrong way (deviate), looking up, down, in, or out. Strabismus, which most often begins in early childhood, is sometimes called "crossed eyes," "walleye," or "squint." It may also be called "lazy eye," but this term is more appropriately associated with poor vision resulting from amblyopia, usually in one eye.