Common Eye Conditions
Refractive Errors
Refractive errors happen when the shape of your eye prevents light from focusing properly on the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of your eye. These are among the most common vision problems, and they can usually be corrected with glasses, contact lenses, or refractive surgery.
Nearsightedness makes distant objects appear blurry while close objects remain clear. This happens when your eyeball is slightly too long or your cornea curves too steeply, causing light to focus in front of the retina instead of directly on it. We often see this condition develop in children and teenagers as their eyes grow, though it can occur at any age. Many people notice difficulty seeing the board at school, reading road signs while driving, or recognizing faces from across a room.
Farsightedness makes close objects appear blurry while distant objects may be clear, though some people with moderate to high farsightedness experience blur at all distances. The eyeball is too short or the cornea is too flat, causing light to focus behind the retina rather than on it. Young people with mild farsightedness often see clearly at all distances because the eye's focusing system can compensate, but this becomes more difficult with age and can lead to eyestrain, headaches, or difficulty with reading and close work.
Astigmatism occurs when your cornea or lens has an irregular shape, more like a football than a perfectly round sphere. This causes light to focus at multiple points rather than one clear point on the retina, resulting in blurred or distorted vision at all distances. Many people have astigmatism combined with nearsightedness or farsightedness. You might notice that straight lines appear wavy, letters look blurred, or you experience eyestrain when reading or using digital screens.
Presbyopia is a natural change that happens as you age, usually becoming noticeable after age 40. The lens inside your eye becomes less flexible over time, making it harder to focus on close objects. Reading small print, using your phone, threading a needle, or doing detailed work may require reading glasses, bifocals, or progressive lenses. Everyone develops presbyopia eventually, even if you have never needed glasses before. Our ophthalmologists can help you find the right solution, whether that is reading glasses, multifocal contact lenses, or other options.
Common Medical Eye Conditions
These conditions affect the health of different parts of your eye and require professional evaluation and treatment. Some develop slowly over time, while others can appear suddenly and require prompt attention.
Dry eye happens when your eyes do not produce enough tears or when tears evaporate too quickly, leaving the surface of your eye inadequately lubricated. Common symptoms include burning, stinging, redness, a gritty or sandy feeling, and paradoxically, excessive tearing as your eyes try to compensate. You may notice symptoms worsen in air conditioning, with prolonged screen time, or in windy conditions. Our ophthalmologists can identify the underlying cause and recommend treatments ranging from artificial tears and prescription medications to specialized procedures like punctal plugs or intense pulsed light therapy.
High blood sugar from diabetes can damage the small blood vessels in the retina at the back of your eye, causing them to leak fluid, swell, or close off completely. In early stages, you might not notice any symptoms, which is why regular comprehensive eye exams are crucial for people with diabetes. As the condition progresses, you may experience blurred vision, floaters, dark spots, or difficulty seeing colors. Our ophthalmologists can detect diabetic retinopathy before it affects your vision and provide treatments including anti-VEGF injections, laser therapy, or surgery to prevent further damage and preserve your sight.
AMD affects the macula, the small central part of the retina responsible for sharp, detailed vision you use for reading, driving, and recognizing faces. It is a leading cause of vision loss in adults over age 50. The dry form develops gradually as cells in the macula break down, while the wet form occurs when abnormal blood vessels grow under the retina and leak fluid. You may notice straight lines appearing wavy, a dark or empty area in your central vision, or colors appearing less vivid. Our ophthalmologists can monitor your condition closely and discuss treatments including nutritional supplements for dry AMD or anti-VEGF injections for wet AMD to slow progression and protect your remaining vision.
Floaters are tiny specks, cobwebs, or threads that drift across your vision, while flashes are brief bursts of light that appear in your peripheral vision. Many floaters are harmless and caused by normal age-related changes in the vitreous gel that fills your eye. However, a sudden increase in floaters, especially accompanied by flashes of light or a shadow or curtain in your peripheral vision, can signal a serious problem like a retinal tear or detachment. If you notice these sudden changes, contact us immediately so our ophthalmologists can examine your eyes promptly to determine if urgent treatment is needed.
Blepharitis is inflammation of the eyelid margins where your eyelashes grow, often caused by bacteria, oil gland dysfunction, or conditions like rosacea. It can cause redness, irritation, burning, itching, and crusty debris along the eyelids, especially noticeable in the morning. While blepharitis is a chronic condition that requires ongoing management, our ophthalmologists can recommend effective cleaning techniques, warm compresses, lid scrubs, and medications including antibiotic ointments or oral antibiotics to control symptoms and prevent complications.
Seasonal or year-round allergies occur when your immune system overreacts to allergens like pollen, dust mites, pet dander, or mold. This triggers the release of histamine and other chemicals that cause itching, redness, watery eyes, and swelling of the eyelids and conjunctiva. You may also experience burning or a feeling that something is in your eye. Our ophthalmologists can help identify your allergy triggers and recommend treatments including antihistamine eye drops, mast cell stabilizers, or combination medications to provide relief and prevent symptoms from interfering with your daily activities.
Some eye problems require immediate care to prevent permanent vision loss or damage. Seek urgent care the same day for severe eye pain, sudden vision loss, new flashes of light accompanied by many new floaters, a curtain or shadow over your vision, chemical splashes in the eye, or any object embedded in the eye. Our ophthalmologists at ReFocus Eye Health Cheshire are equipped to handle eye emergencies and provide immediate treatment. For after-hours emergencies, go directly to the nearest emergency department.
Cataracts
A cataract is a clouding of the eye's natural lens that develops gradually over time, typically as part of the normal aging process. While cataracts are very common, they are also highly treatable, and our ophthalmologists can help restore clear vision through modern surgical techniques.
Most cataracts form as a natural part of aging, usually developing after age 60, though some people notice changes earlier. The normally clear lens becomes increasingly cloudy, causing blurred vision, difficulty seeing at night, sensitivity to light and glare, seeing halos around lights, faded or yellowed colors, and the need for frequent changes in your glasses prescription. When cataracts interfere with daily activities like driving, reading, or hobbies, our ophthalmologists can perform cataract surgery to remove the cloudy lens and replace it with a clear artificial intraocular lens, usually resulting in significantly improved vision and often reducing your dependence on glasses.
Cataracts can also develop as a side effect of other eye conditions, long-term use of medications like corticosteroids, eye injuries, radiation treatment, or previous eye surgery. After cataract surgery, the thin membrane that holds the artificial lens in place can sometimes become cloudy over time, a condition called posterior capsular opacification or secondary cataract. This causes vision to become blurry again, but it can be quickly and painlessly corrected with a simple laser procedure called YAG laser capsulotomy that clears the cloudiness in just minutes. Our ophthalmologists monitor these carefully and discuss treatment options when they affect your vision.
Signs that you may have cataracts include blurred or dim vision, difficulty reading even with your current glasses, trouble driving at night due to glare from headlights, colors appearing faded or yellowed, seeing halos around lights, double vision in one eye, and needing brighter light for reading or detailed work. Cataracts develop at different rates for different people. Our ophthalmologists can evaluate your cataracts during a comprehensive eye exam and discuss whether surgery is appropriate for you based on how much the cataract affects your vision and quality of life.
Children's Eye Conditions
Children's eyes develop throughout childhood, and early detection of eye problems is crucial for proper vision development and academic success. Our ophthalmologists have experience caring for young patients and can identify problems that might affect learning, development, and safety.
Amblyopia occurs when one eye does not develop normal vision during childhood, usually because the brain favors the other eye due to a significant difference in prescription between the eyes, eye misalignment, or something blocking vision like a cataract. The affected eye appears normal but does not see clearly even with glasses. Early detection and treatment are critical because vision development occurs primarily before age 8, though treatment can be effective in older children and even some adults. Treatment may include glasses to correct refractive errors, patching the stronger eye to force the brain to use the weaker eye, atropine eye drops to temporarily blur vision in the stronger eye, or vision therapy exercises to improve eye coordination and visual processing.
Strabismus means the eyes are not aligned and do not point in the same direction at the same time. One eye may turn inward, outward, upward, or downward while the other eye looks straight ahead. This can be constant or intermittent and may affect depth perception, cause double vision, or lead to amblyopia if the brain learns to ignore the image from the misaligned eye. Our ophthalmologists can evaluate the type and cause of strabismus and discuss treatment options, which may include glasses to correct refractive errors, prism lenses to reduce eye strain, vision therapy exercises to improve eye coordination, or eye muscle surgery to realign the eyes.
Children can have nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism just like adults. Uncorrected vision problems can interfere with learning, reading, sports, and social development. Children may not realize their vision is blurry because they have never known anything different, so regular eye exams are important even if your child does not complain about vision problems. Our ophthalmologists can detect refractive errors and prescribe glasses or contact lenses to ensure your child can see clearly at school and during activities.
Though much less common than in older adults, children can develop cataracts at birth or in early childhood due to genetic conditions, infections during pregnancy, metabolic disorders, or eye injuries. Congenital cataracts that are visually significant require prompt treatment to prevent permanent vision loss and amblyopia. Our ophthalmologists will carefully monitor any lens cloudiness in children and discuss surgical options if the cataract interferes with vision development. Surgery for pediatric cataracts is more complex than adult cataract surgery and requires specialized expertise and careful follow-up to ensure the best possible visual outcomes.
Retina Conditions
The retina is the light-sensitive tissue lining the back of your eye that converts light into electrical signals sent to the brain through the optic nerve. Retinal conditions can significantly affect your vision and require specialized evaluation and treatment from our ophthalmologists.
This condition develops when diabetes causes swelling in the macula, the central part of the retina responsible for detailed vision. Damaged blood vessels leak fluid into the macula, causing it to thicken and swell. You may notice blurred central vision, wavy straight lines, or colors appearing washed out. Diabetic macular edema can lead to significant vision loss if untreated. Our ophthalmologists monitor patients with diabetes closely using advanced imaging and recommend treatments when needed, including anti-VEGF injections that reduce swelling and leakage, corticosteroid injections or implants to reduce inflammation, or laser therapy to seal leaking blood vessels.
Retinal detachment occurs when the retina pulls away from the underlying tissue that supplies it with oxygen and nutrients. This is a serious medical emergency that can cause permanent vision loss if not treated promptly. Warning signs include a sudden increase in floaters, flashes of light in your peripheral vision, a shadow or curtain moving across your field of vision, or a sudden decrease in vision. Risk factors include severe nearsightedness, previous eye surgery or injury, family history of retinal detachment, and certain retinal conditions. If you experience these symptoms, contact us immediately or go to the emergency department. Treatment involves surgery to reattach the retina, which may include laser treatment, freezing treatment, pneumatic retinopexy with a gas bubble, scleral buckle surgery, or vitrectomy.
A macular hole is a small break or tear in the center of the macula that causes blurred or distorted central vision. You may notice a dark spot or blind spot in the center of your vision, straight lines appearing wavy or bent, or difficulty reading or recognizing faces. Macular holes most commonly develop in people over age 60 and usually result from age-related changes in the vitreous gel that pulls on the macula. Small holes may close on their own, but larger holes that significantly affect vision typically require surgical treatment. Our ophthalmologists can monitor small holes or discuss vitrectomy surgery combined with gas bubble injection for larger holes, which has a high success rate for improving vision.
Retinitis pigmentosa is a group of rare inherited disorders that cause progressive degeneration of the light-sensitive cells in the retina. It typically starts with difficulty seeing in dim light or at night, followed by a gradual loss of peripheral vision that can progress to tunnel vision or complete vision loss over many years or decades. The condition varies widely in severity and progression rate. While there is currently no cure for most forms of retinitis pigmentosa, our ophthalmologists can help manage symptoms, provide low vision aids and resources, monitor for complications like cataracts or macular swelling that can be treated, and discuss emerging treatments including gene therapy and retinal implants that may be options for some patients.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a group of eye conditions that damage the optic nerve, usually due to elevated pressure inside the eye, gradually causing irreversible vision loss. Early detection and treatment are crucial because vision lost to glaucoma cannot be recovered. Regular comprehensive eye exams allow our ophthalmologists to detect glaucoma early and provide treatment to prevent serious vision loss.
This is the most common form of glaucoma, accounting for about 90 percent of cases. The drainage angle where fluid leaves the eye remains open, but the drainage system does not work efficiently, causing fluid to drain too slowly through the trabecular meshwork. Pressure builds gradually over time, slowly damaging the optic nerve. Open-angle glaucoma typically causes no symptoms in the early stages, and vision loss begins with peripheral vision, so many people do not notice changes until significant damage has occurred. Regular screening is essential for early detection. Treatment focuses on lowering eye pressure and may include prescription eye drops to reduce fluid production or increase drainage, laser trabeculoplasty to improve drainage, or surgical procedures to create a new drainage pathway.
Angle-closure glaucoma, also called narrow-angle or closed-angle glaucoma, develops when the drainage angle becomes blocked or narrowed, preventing fluid from draining properly. Acute angle-closure glaucoma is a medical emergency that occurs suddenly when the angle closes completely, causing a rapid rise in eye pressure. Symptoms include severe eye pain, headache, nausea and vomiting, blurred vision, seeing halos around lights, and eye redness. If you experience these symptoms, seek immediate emergency care to prevent permanent vision loss. Treatment involves medications to rapidly lower eye pressure followed by laser peripheral iridotomy, a procedure that creates a small opening in the iris to allow fluid to drain properly. Some people have narrow angles without symptoms, and our ophthalmologists may recommend preventive laser treatment to reduce the risk of acute attacks.
In this form of glaucoma, the optic nerve becomes damaged even though eye pressure remains in the statistically normal range. Researchers believe some people may have optic nerves that are more vulnerable to damage at normal pressures, or that reduced blood flow to the optic nerve may contribute to damage. Symptoms and vision loss are similar to open-angle glaucoma, with gradual peripheral vision loss. Our ophthalmologists will monitor your optic nerve and visual field carefully and recommend treatment to lower your eye pressure even further below the normal range if we detect progression, since lowering pressure remains the most effective way to slow nerve damage.
Secondary glaucoma develops as a complication of another eye condition, disease, injury, or medication. In patients with diabetes, advanced diabetic retinopathy can lead to abnormal new blood vessels growing on the iris and blocking the drainage angle, causing a particularly difficult-to-treat form called neovascular glaucoma. Other causes include eye inflammation, advanced cataracts, eye tumors, eye injuries, and long-term corticosteroid use. Treatment depends on the underlying cause and typically involves both treating the primary condition and using medications, laser therapy, or surgery to lower eye pressure and prevent further optic nerve damage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to questions we frequently hear from patients throughout the Greater New Haven–Milford Metropolitan Area about eye conditions. Our ophthalmologists at ReFocus Eye Health Cheshire are happy to discuss any additional concerns you may have.
Exam frequency depends on your age, overall health, and risk factors. The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends that adults with no signs or symptoms of eye disease get a baseline comprehensive eye exam at age 40, then follow-up exams every 2 to 4 years for ages 40 to 54, every 1 to 3 years for ages 55 to 64, and every 1 to 2 years for those 65 and older. Children should have their first comprehensive eye exam at 6 months, again at age 3, before starting school, and then every 1 to 2 years unless problems are detected. People with diabetes, a family history of glaucoma or macular degeneration, high blood pressure, or other risk factors need more frequent exams. Our ophthalmologists can recommend a personalized screening schedule based on your individual risk factors and eye health.
Some conditions like age-related cataracts and presbyopia cannot be prevented because they are natural parts of aging, but many risk factors for eye disease can be reduced through healthy lifestyle choices. Protecting your eyes from ultraviolet damage by wearing sunglasses that block 100 percent of UVA and UVB rays, managing chronic conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure, eating a healthy diet rich in leafy greens, fish, and colorful fruits and vegetables, avoiding smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, and exercising regularly all support long-term eye health. Regular comprehensive eye exams are your best protection because many serious eye conditions can be detected and treated before they cause noticeable symptoms or permanent damage. Our ophthalmologists can discuss prevention strategies specific to your health profile and family history.
Many common eye conditions are highly treatable, especially when detected early through regular comprehensive eye exams. Refractive errors can be corrected with glasses, contact lenses, or refractive surgery to restore clear vision. Conditions like glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and macular degeneration can be managed with medications, injections, laser treatment, or surgery to slow progression and prevent vision loss. Cataracts can be surgically removed and replaced with artificial lenses to restore clear vision. Some conditions like retinal detachment, acute angle-closure glaucoma, or certain eye injuries require urgent treatment to save vision. Even conditions that cannot be cured, like retinitis pigmentosa, can be managed with low vision aids and supportive care to help you maintain your independence and quality of life. The key to preserving your vision is early detection through regular eye exams and prompt treatment when problems are identified.
Both ophthalmologists and optometrists provide valuable eye care, but they have different levels of training and different scopes of practice. Ophthalmologists are medical doctors who have completed four years of medical school followed by at least four years of specialized residency training in eye diseases, surgery, and medical treatment. Ophthalmologists can perform comprehensive eye exams, diagnose and treat all eye diseases, prescribe medications, and perform eye surgery including cataract surgery, glaucoma surgery, retinal surgery, and corneal surgery. Optometrists complete four years of optometry school and can perform eye exams, prescribe glasses and contact lenses, diagnose common eye conditions, and provide some medical treatments depending on state regulations. At ReFocus Eye Health Cheshire, our ophthalmologists are equipped to diagnose and manage the full range of eye conditions described on this page, from routine refractive errors to complex surgical conditions.
Family history increases your risk for certain eye conditions like glaucoma, macular degeneration, and some inherited retinal diseases, but it does not guarantee you will develop these conditions. Genetics is just one factor in eye disease development. Lifestyle choices, overall health management, environmental factors, and protective measures also play important roles in determining whether you develop eye problems. However, if you have a family history of eye disease, it is especially important to have regular comprehensive eye exams starting at an earlier age than usually recommended. Early detection allows our ophthalmologists to monitor your eyes closely, identify subtle changes before symptoms develop, and begin treatment promptly if problems arise. This proactive approach gives you the best chance of preserving your vision throughout your life.
We Are Here to Protect Your Vision
If you are concerned about your vision or think you may have one of these eye conditions, our ophthalmologists at ReFocus Eye Health Cheshire can evaluate your eyes thoroughly and discuss the best treatment options for your specific situation. We are committed to providing comprehensive, personalized eye care to help you see clearly and maintain healthy vision for life.
It was excellent!! I’m very impressed w/ everyone that took care of me. Very professional & personable.
Joseph Maisto
Everyone very professional and on time. I really like Dr Masi. Excellent Dr.
T Car
I was greeted by Jose who was so fun as he did all my testing! My Dr who saw me was so nice and put my mind at ease! I look forward to going back next year! Thank you to everyone in Cheshire!
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Dr.Swan is the best!! Never rushed and takes the time during and after examination to address any issues or concerns I may have. I would highly recommend this group!
Mary Sylvestre
The whole process was seamless. Everyone is very competent and Dr Swan was great. He explained his findings to me in detail. I scheduled my next appointment without hesitation.
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