macular degen chart

[Guest guest]

Tracie, here is a website with the Amsler chart & directions, to be downloaded & printed out. I gave one to my mom, but I'm going to print out another for myself & keep it on the fridge.

http://www.macular.org/chart.html

Ramblin' Rose

Moderator

From: tiodaat@...Reply-To: Neurosarcoidosis To: Neurosarcoidosis Subject: Re: Vision explainedDate: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 19:10:50 EDT

In a message dated 6/1/07 2:28:08 PM Pacific Daylight Time, sglaspie2000 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com writes:

I had the flashing bright light in the corner of one of my eyes recently. Usually the Flashing light is a vitreous floater- a small amount of the fluid that is inside the eyeball that breaks away and literally floats inside the eyeball. Our bodies will reabsorb this, and it's ok. However, if you are light sensitive, (photophobic) or have actually lost a part of your central vision (picture yourself not seeing what is in front of you, but you can see what is to the sides-- like someone blacked out what is directly in front-- is a serious sign of macular damage. Many MD's will give you a 4x6" piece of grid paper, that has squares every 1/2 inch-- it's called an Amsler Grid. You put it up on the refrigerator, and if you do find yourself not able to see all the squares-- get in to the MD Ophthalmologist-- this is what is termed an emergent appointment.The macula of the eye is only the size of the top of a straight pin. It we get a tear (as in torn)-- in it, or we get a hemorrhage behind it-- it will take away your vision. With todays surgical techiniques- a macular specialist can reattach the tissue (it's only a single skin cell layer thick!) and you may be able to restore your vision- at least partially.If it is the retina (which is the area the size of a pencil eraser that surrounds the macula, ) then you lose clarity and will find that nothing seems to be in focus. Even for those of us that have glasses, we still can't focus. The retina has a few blood vessels that go thru it, but the macula does not have any blood vessels. For those of us with diabetes, we can develop diabetic retinopathy-- where the blood vessels start to proliferate and they have to use a laser to stop this process. If does take away the vision -- and again, it's lost for good.When the macula goes, you lose your central vision, your color vision and your contrast vision-- which is what lets you determine depth perception. If that is effected, dizziness, nausea, balance all become effected. (Patching one eye takes away the depth perception also). Glaucoma can make the retina of the eye warp-- basically swelling from the pressure of fluid on the intraocular nerve. This can give you the headaches and serious flu symptoms, but no fever. With glaucoma- you lose the peripheral vision, and end up feeling like you're looking down the inside of a straw. You won't see the kids on the sidewalk, but you can see what is directly in front of you. Sarcoidosis loves our eyes. It is actually the second favorite spot to hit. It does so by inflamming the iris of the eye, which in turn creates inflammation of the uveal tract. This tract is a spiderweb ligaments that control the opening and contraction of the iris when we go from lights into darkness. If it gets inflammed-- then it's primary function of contracting the iris which is the pumping station for the fluid pressure inside the eye-- is impaired. This is glaucoma. The other problem with iritis is that the pupil will adhere to the iris and this makes it so that the iris of the eye can't work. We become light sensitive, and again-- the acute glaucoma can rob your vision. Some MD's like to tell you this is a slowly progressing problem- and in most people it is-- but with us it can be ACUTE-- and we can lose the vision in hours. If it is diagnosed and treated correctly, then we stand a very good chance of seeing all the wonderful things we want to see.So this is why I say do not screw around with vision problems. I saw way to many patients while working as an office administrator for an Ophthalmology practice (training my back office and receptionists how to know what was emergent and what was urgent) to say what a few days. These are serious symptoms, and even on this site---one of our members who is a now retired MD-- had forgotten all this from her med school yrs. (She was also an RN, PhD and MFT) (I'm not sure if she's even still alive.) So don't think I'm over-reacting-- my reminder to her saved her vision in one eye---- and she was too late for the other.Sincerely,TracieNS Co-owner/moderator**************************************See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

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