Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in American adults. It is caused by changes in the blood vessels within the retina. The blood vessels may begin to swell and leak or new blood vessels may begin to grow on the surface of the retina. These changes may result in vision loss or blindness. The longer someone has diabetes, the greater his or her risk for developing diabetic eye disease. Almost 50% of all people with diabetes develop some diabetic retinopathy during their life. There are often no symptoms during the early stages of the diabetes. There is no eye pain and vision isn’t blurred until the condition worsens. That is why it is so important to have an annual dilated examination if you have diabetes.

The doctors at Monument Vision Clinic have years and years of experience in laser vision correction, with both PRK and LASIK. Not only have we guided patients through the experience, many of the doctors and staff have had laser surgery to correct their eyesight. We will determine whether you are a candidate for laser vision correction, set up an appointment with the best surgeons, and then follow your progress with our careful post-operative care.

There are two types of age-related macular degeneration. The most common type is Dry AMD. The cause is unknown. The macular cells gradually begin to break down. As this occurs, you may start to lose central vision. This often initially occurs in just one eye. However, the disease may occur in the other eye later. Wet AMD is the second type of this disease. It is much more rare, but accounts for the majority of the blindness from the disease. Wet AMD occurs when new blood vessels in the retina start to grow toward the macula. They are very fragile and often leak blood and fluid under the macula. This causes macular damage and a rapid loss of central vision. The risk for developing AMD increases as you get older. Women may be at higher risk than men. Smoking may increase the risk of AMD. People with a family history of AMD may be at higher risk as are people with elevated levels of blood cholesterol. Dry AMD cannot be treated at this time. Fortunately, this form of the disease progresses very slowly. Eventually some central vision may be lost, but most people with dry AMD lead normal, active lives. Some forms of wet AMD can be treated with laser surgery. The laser is used to stop the leaking blood vessels before further damage occurs.

Glaucoma is an eye disease that can cause loss of vision due to damage of the optic nerve. Glaucoma is painless with no visual symptoms in the early stages. We have diagnosed and treated glaucoma for many years at Monument Vision Clinic. Our glaucoma diagnostic instruments are state of the art, and our doctors have continuing training in the expanding field of glaucoma treatment. Contact Monument Vision Clinic if you have a family history of glaucoma, or if you need follow-up care for your glaucoma diagnosis.

Management of dry eyes can be a challenging process. Lubricating drops and ointments may provide relief for dry eyes. Lacrimal occlusion is often used when lubricating drops alone are not adequate. Lacrimal occlusion is the partial blockage of your tear drainage ducts to preserve natural tears on the surface of the eyes. This procedure often provides long-term relief from dry eye symptoms. Also anti-inflammatory medications and prescription Restasis™ can be helpful in dry eye treatment. We will also discuss nutritional products to reduce dryness. When left untreated, severely dry eyes may lead to chronic infection of your eye and eyelids, corneal ulceration, scarring and permanent vision loss. The eye doctors of Monument Vision Clinic are experts in treating dry eyes having years of experience and will work with you to determine the best option for treating your dry eye symptoms.

Cataract is a clouding of the lens inside the eye. This clouding is common as we grow older, and also can be accelerated in people with diabetes and as a side effect of some medications. Our doctors examine cataract patients every day, making sure that we can improve their vision as much as possible with the best glasses or contact lens correction. We work with our patients to decide when it is time to consider surgery to restore vision, and then refer them to a skilled cataract surgeon. We are fortunate to have wonderful surgeons in our area, and our long-term relationships with them allow us to do much of the post-operative care in our Monument office, saving time and travel.

Vision therapy, also known as orthoptics, vision training or eye training, is an organized therapeutic regime utilized to treat a number of neuromuscular, neurophysiological and neurosensory conditions that interfere with visual function. These are conditions that can’t be treated with only glasses, contacts or patching. For proper development of visual, perceptual and motor abilities an individualized vision therapy plan is needed. Vision therapy provides an individualized treatment program of eye training procedures under professional supervision used to improve or correct visual-motor and perceptual-cognitive deficits. For example, vision therapy works on; eye alignment/teaming, eye movements, eye tracking, eye focusing and visual processing. Patients learn new visual skills and these skills are then reinforced to make automatic through repetition and integration of complex cognitive and motor skills.