Episode 86 - Eye Conditions 2

The Pharmacist Answers Podcast

Eye Conditions in ABC order Color blindness

It doesn't mean that someone sees the world in black and white. It's technically labeled as Red-Green color blindness, which means the world is seen in shades of yellow. The cones in your eyes (a certain shaped cells in your retina) are built to pick up different wavelengths of light (think ROYGBV). So the cones that would pick up reds and greens are absent or broken. Found to be a Y-chromosome trait, so it is more prevalent in males. Rarely Blue-yellow color blindness is a thing.

Conjunctivitis

pink eye = inflammation of the conjunctiva conjunctiva = the layer that covers your whole eye

3 types:

1. Viral: itching, watering, burning, light sensitivity, very contagious, lasts ~ 7 days
2. Bacterial: green/brown discharge (aka "goo"), foreign-body sensation, contagious, can cause damage if untreated, requires antibiotic drop
3. Allergic: triggered by allergens, histamine reaction, can accompany a larger, more general allergy reaction, anti-histamine eye drops can help

Corneal abrasion

A scratched or injured cornea. Symptoms include redness, watering, light sensitivity, foreign-body sensation Can be dramatic or traumatic like being hit in the face or eye by something, or something as simple as rubbing an itchy eye or getting something out of their eye. * If you end up with something in your eye, the best option is to flush it out with water or saline Bacteria on your hands or the thing that scratched your eye can lead to a deeper infection, but most of the time, if you use caution, it will heal itself rather quickly.

**Solution for light sensitivity: wear sunglasses at night

Detached retina

When the retina detaches from the back of the eye. Sounds awful but it doesn't hurt. The retina a web of nerves in the back of your eye that sends signals to the brain.

Closing curtain sensation is where part of the view of vision will become shadowed as the retina detaches gradually from one side to the other. Floaters also show up if this is happening. (All floaters ARE NOT related to the retina.)

Sudden detachment can be caused by head injuries or sudden intra-ocular pressure drops (the fluid pressure inside your eyeball). This sudden detachment is experienced as a flash of light and then sudden darkness. Sudden or gradual detachment requires immediate medical attention and can be repaired with surgery and medical intervention. Diabetic retinopathy do to chronic damage can lead to retina detachment. *The risk of retina detachment occurring after an eye procedure (lasik surgery or cataracts surgery) is skewed for people with severe nearsightedness, possibly due to a genetic disposition of having a shorter retina.

Audience Question

Safe to use allergy eye drops long-term? Answer: Sure! The only problem is that chronic use can lead to your body not responding to the same med over and over as well. So, to avoid this, swap between drops and allergy tabs - based on if you're experiencing "eye only" allergies or a wider allergy response that involves the sinuses too.

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Music Credits: “Radio Martini” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/