Research & Publications

Smoking 0 Comments

Is Smoking Bad for Your Eyes?

Is Smoking Bad for Your Eyes?

The dangers of cigarette smoking have been well-known for decades. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists tobacco use as the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, citing uncomfortable statistics such as smoking being responsible for around one in five deaths every year, and the life expectancy of a smoker being at least 10 years shorter than a non-smoker.

Despite knowing that cigarette smoking has the potential to cause death by way of cancer and various respiratory and vascular diseases, around 40 million adults in the US still indulge in a puff. However, if you knew smoking could result in spending the rest of your life with permanent blindness, would you still be so quick to flick open that lighter?

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Pterygium 0 Comments

Factors that Affect Your Risk of Getting a Pterygium

Pterygium: Lifeguard wearing sunglasses at the beach

 
Risks are a necessary part of life. Stepping out of the house is a risk – you could get stung by a bee in the garden; staying inside the house is a risk – what if the bee comes through the window and you’re caught unaware? Understanding the consequences when we take these risks help us to make reasonable adjustments in response (if you’re deathly allergic to bees, becoming a beekeeper is not a good idea).

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Pterygium in Children 0 Comments

Can Kids Get Pterygia?

 

Pterygium – a benign wing-shaped overgrowth of tissue from the whites of the eye over the transparent cornea. It’s commonly known as surfer’s eye (carnosidad in Spanish) and is often thought to be related to UV exposure, which is why there is a higher prevalence in geographical locations closer to the equator. The vast majority of pterygium cases are seen in adults with the peak incidence between 20 and 40 years old, but just like little kids can get the odd premature white hair here and there, it turns out they can also get pterygia.

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Pterygium Skin Cancer Surfer's Eye UV Radiation 0 Comments

The Link Between Pterygia and Melanoma

Ultraviolet Radiation Exposure Heightens The Risk Of Pterygia And Skin Melanomas

 

Who doesn’t love the sun and surf? The answer is probably nobody. And who loves surfer’s eye? The answer is also probably nobody. And if we’re asking who loves skin cancer, the answer is definitely nobody.

Surfer’s eye, also known as a pterygium, is a fleshy overgrowth of tissue from the membrane over the whites of the eye (the conjunctiva) to the cornea (the transparent dome at the front of the eye). Although a pterygium itself is considered benign, researchers in the Australian state of Western Australia have noted an association between the presence of pterygia and cutaneous (skin) melanoma.
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Pterygium Removal Surgery 0 Comments

Pterygium Removal Surgery Results Using the Femtosecond Laser

Pterygia (singular pterygium) are triangular, wing-shaped overgrowths of fibrovascular tissue on the front surface of the eye, extending from the conjunctiva on the whites of the eye over the transparent tissue of the cornea. Though pterygia are harmless and benign, they can cause some issues such as inducing astigmatism and decreased visual acuity, discomfort from recurrent inflammation, and cosmetic problems (who wants to have a wing growing across their eye?). While many patients are content to put up with a little pterygium, current treatment options for bothersome pterygia are centered mainly around surgical techniques.
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Cataracts 0 Comments

Can Cataracts Be Prevented?

The mention of cataracts can cause a bit of a heart palpitation for some people, particularly older ones who have family members who supposedly went blind from the condition. However, cataracts are as expected as wrinkles and white hairs – they are a normal part of aging. Over 24 million Americans aged over 40 have some degree of cataract; in the state of California over 16% of the population have a cataract in one or both eyes, which means more than 6 million Californians are walking around with a cataract, probably in addition to a few wrinkles and white hairs.
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General Headaches Migraines 0 Comments

The Difference Between Headaches and Migraines

Are headaches the same as migraines? Can a migraine cause a vision problem? Can a vision problem cause a migraine? Are headaches a symptom of an eye disease? So many questions!

The distinction between a headache and a migraine can be a little murky. Headache is an umbrella term referring to a number of disorders involving pain in the head, face, or upper neck area. A migraine is a painful primary headache disorder.
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Eye Herpes 0 Comments

Did You Know You Can Get Herpes in the Eye?

Here’s an unexpected differential diagnosis for anyone who’s ever had pink eye – eye herpes. As nasty as that sounds, at least you can tell everyone the strain of herpetic eye disease is typically type I, which is the same strain that causes cold sores, rather than the type II strain of the herpes down there.
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Watery Eyes 0 Comments

I’m Not Crying (the Watery Eye)

Have you ever walked outside and suddenly everyone is wondering why tears are streaming down your face, and even more peculiarly, only down one side of your face? Perhaps the sight of a beautiful blue sky moved you to tears, or perhaps you are just experiencing a bit of epiphora. Though a watering eye, also known as epiphora, itself is not harmful, sometimes it can be a symptom of something else that needs addressing. As the tear film is the first refractive surface that light meets when entering the eye, an overflow of tears can cause blurred vision, which can be inconvenient, such as when driving or trying to watch your bride walk down the aisle towards you, and on occasion can also be a little embarrassing.
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Research & Publications

Is Smoking Bad for Your Eyes?

The dangers of cigarette smoking have been well-known for decades. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists tobacco …

Factors that Affect Your Risk of Getting a Pterygium

  Risks are a necessary part of life. Stepping out of the house is a risk – you could get stung by a bee in the garden; …

Can Kids Get Pterygia?

  Pterygium – a benign wing-shaped overgrowth of tissue from the whites of the eye over the transparent cornea. It’s …