In this condition, the eyeball is too long for normal focusing power. Images in the distance appear blurred.

How can this be treated?
Those who experience nearsightedness may use corrective lenses such as eye glasses or contacts lenses. Eye surgery can also correct this problem.

In this condition, the eyes are not straight or properly aligned.

What are the causes?
The eye muscles fail to work together causing one eye, or sometimes both to turn in (crossed eyes), turn out (wall eyes), or turn up or down. Sometimes more than one of these is present.

What should you do?
Strabismus may be present at birth or appear later in life. If your child or baby appears to have any of the above 'turns', consult an eye care professional.

What treatments are available?
Strabismus can not be outgrown and will require correction.

• Glasses may improve focusing, redirect the line of sight, and straighten the eyes
• Prescribed eye drops and ointments may be used. Injected medication may be used to selectively weaken an overactive eye muscle
• Surgery on the eye muscles may straighten the eyes if non-surgical methods are unsuccessful
• Eye exercises before and after surgery is recommended.

Amblyopia is a condition in which vision is reduced in an eye that has not received adequate use during early childhood.

What are the causes?
The most common cause of "lazy" eye is misalignment of the eyes such as crossed eye or difference in image quality between the two eyes.

Can it be treated?
With early detection, the "lazy" eye can be restored.

What treatments are available?
The underlying cause should be treated first:

• Glasses may improve focusing and misalignment
• Surgery on the eye muscles may straighten the eyes if non-surgical methods are unsuccessful
• Eye exercises before and after surgery can help correct faulty visual habits.

After treatment of the underlying cause, patching of the better eye for a few weeks to a year will help focus and strengthen the "lazy" eye.

Conjunctivitis occurs when there is an inflammation of the conjunctiva, which is the clear mucus membrane that covers the white part of the eyeball and the inside of the eyelid.

What are the causes?
It is usually caused by a virus or bacteria, allergic reactions, or chemical reactions.

What are the signs and symptoms?

• Red and irritated eyes
• Waking with eyelashes stuck together from dried mucus
• Gritty feeling
• Itchy eyes
• Sensitivity to light
• Stickiness of eyelids
• Swollen eyelids (severe cases)

How is it treated?
Have a doctor or eye care professional examine the eyes for cause and treatment.

• Eyelids can be cleaned every few hours with a cotton swab soaked in lukewarm water.
• Antibiotic eye drops, ointments or other prescribed medications may be used.
• Tinted glasses may relieve sensitivity to light.

The front surface of the cornea is irregular.

How is it caused?
Astigmatism is usually hereditary and may be present at birth.

What are the signs and symptoms?

• Headaches
• Fatigue
• Eye strain and blurred vision at all distances

Can it be treated?
Persons with astigmatisms may acquire corrective lenses such as eye glasses or contacts lenses (toric lenses). Refractive surgery may also be performed to correct the issue.

This occurs when the eyeball is too short for normal focusing power. If you have hyperopia, distant images are seen more clearly. In children, the lens of the eye accommodates for this error and provides clear vision. This can stress the eyes causing fatigue or crossed eyes.

How can this be treated?
Those who experience farsightedness may use corrective lenses such as eye glasses or contacts lenses. Eye surgery can also correct this problem.

Color vision deficiency is the term used to describe people with problems with color vision. These problems can range from slight difficulty in telling different shades of a color apart to not being able to identify any color.

Who should be tested?

• Children checked regularly for vision problems including color vision deficiency
• Those who have a family history of color vision problems
• Those who have problems seeing colors.

What treatments are available?
Unfortunately, there is no cure for hereditary color vision deficiency. It is possible to recognize color by other means. There are specially tinted eyeglasses to help distinguish certain colors.

Some children are born with cataracts. It may also develop following a disease or a blow to the head. Cataracts prevent the passage of light through the eye causing blurred vision.

What are the causes?
This occurs when there is a build up of protein on the lens that makes it cloudy.

What are the signs and symptoms?

• Vision that is cloudy, blurry, foggy or filmy
• Sudden nearsightedness
• Changes in the way the child sees color, especially yellow
• Problems with glare
• Double vision
• Sudden temporary improvement in close-up vision

What is the treatment?

• Babies born with cataracts can have them removed at a few months old
• Eyeglasses (bifocals) and contact lenses can be used if vision is acceptable
• Cataract surgery
  

Some premature infants develop changes in the blood vessels of the eye's retina that can permanently impair vision.

This occurs when there is an inflammation of a part of the eye called the uvea. The uvea is a layer of the eye made up of three parts (the iris, the ciliary body, and the choroid). There are different types of uveitis including anterior uveitis, intermediate uveitis, and posterior uveitis.

Who is at risk?
Uveitis can affect anyone at any age, but commonly occurs in adults in their 40s. Women are at a higher risk. It is the leading cause of blindness is the world.

What are the causes?
Inflammation is the body's response to injury, or trauma. Uveitis can be caused by trauma, including a virus, bacteria infections, or parasites.

Genes also can cause uveitis. Diseases that damage the body's immune system, such as AIDS, can lower the body's ability to protect itself from infections that can cause uveitis.

What are the signs and symptoms?

• Sensitivity to light or glare
• Pain, tenderness or redness in or around the eyes
• Difficulty focusing on near or distant objects
• Blurred vision
• Floaters (small specks or clouds moving in your field of vision)

What treatments are available?
To treat uveitis, doctors must find the cause of the trauma to the eye.

What are the four types of uveitis?

1. Iritis: is the most common form of uveitis. It affects the iris and is often associated with autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis. Iritis may develop suddenly and may last up to eight weeks, even with treatment.
2. Cyclitis: is an inflammation of the middle portion of the eye and may affect the muscle that focuses the lens. This also may develop suddenly and last several months.
3. Retinitis: affects the back of the eye. It may be rapidly progressive, making it difficult to treat. Retinitis may be caused by viruses such as shingles or herpes and bacterial infections such as syphilis or toxoplasmosis.
4. Choroiditis: is an inflammation of the layer beneath the retina. It may also be caused by an infection such as tuberculosis.

In Children

• Mydriatic drops are prescribed to dilate the eyes to keep the pupils open and help prevent scarring
• Steroid drops can be used to reduce swelling and inflammation (use should be limited) or non-steroid drops can be prescribed*
• Oral steroids can be taken if eye drops are not effective

*long-term use of steroids in children should be minimized to reduce long-term side effects