What Is Ophthalmology?

Ophthalmology is a field of medicine that involves the diagnosis and treatment of eye issues. The specialty helps patients with everything from prescriptions for glasses and contact lenses to surgical interventions for conditions like retinal tears and strabismus. As with other branches of medicine, some ophthalmologists choose to specialize in the care of pediatric patients, and others treat only adults. Currently, experts recommend that individuals have an eye exam at least once during their 20s, and two exams are recommended between the ages of thirty and thirty-nine. For patients between forty and sixty-four years old, exams are advised every two to four years, and individuals who are sixty-five years old and older are advised to have annual eye exams.

Basic Definition

Ophthalmology is, as mentioned, the avenue of medicine dealing with the eyes and the diagnosis and treatment of conditions affecting vision. Specialists working in this area study and treat issues associated with any part of the eye. For example, they can treat outer eye conditions such as eye infections, cysts, or weakness in the muscles that control the eyelid. They also evaluate and treat conditions affecting the inside of the eye and the retina, including cataracts, retinal tears, and retinal detachment. Ophthalmology often deals with cases that require eye surgery. Ophthalmologists are trained in laser surgery for various eye conditions, and they can also perform surgery on the eyes with traditional instruments.

Differences Between An Ophthalmologist, Optometrist, And Optician

The differences between an ophthalmologist, optometrist, and optician are significant, both in required training levels and in the eye disorders each can treat. Ophthalmologists are medical or osteopathic doctors who specialize in eye health. These professionals complete medical school and additional training in eye disorders, and they are licensed to practice both medicine and surgery. They can diagnose and treat any type of eye disorder, and they perform eye exams, issue prescriptions for glasses and contacts, and perform surgery when necessary. Optometrists attend four years of optometry school after completing an undergraduate degree, and they are licensed to practice optometry.

Unlike ophthalmologists, however, optometrists are not medical doctors, though they are still licensed to perform eye examinations, write prescriptions for glasses or contacts, and diagnose certain types of eye conditions. They can also prescribe some kinds of prescription medications. Opticians are not permitted to perform vision or eye examinations, and they are also not able to diagnose or treat any eye conditions. Using prescriptions supplied by optometrists or ophthalmologists, opticians can design and fit glasses, contact lenses, and other corrective vision aids. They cannot write any prescriptions themselves.

What Diseases Ophthalmologists Treat

Ophthalmologists can treat any eye condition, no matter how minor or complex. For example, they can treat dry eye or excessive tearing, and they can also help in cases of eye muscle problems or misalignment of the eyes. These specialists routinely provide care for patients with elevated eye pressure (glaucoma), and they diagnose and treat macular degeneration, cataracts, and other vision problems associated with aging.

In particular, ophthalmologists tend to be called on to treat eye complications in patients with diabetes, including macular edema and other forms of retinopathy. Ophthalmologists also diagnose and treat eye infections such as conjunctivitis, and they can provide medication and perform procedures to treat styes, cysts, and eye tumors.

History Of Ophthalmology

The history of ophthalmology is long; in fact, it dates back to the very beginning of written history itself. Sushruta, a surgeon living in ancient India in 800 B.C., recorded information about seventy-six different eye diseases and described several types of ophthalmology instruments and treatment techniques. Sushruta was especially interested in surgery for cataracts, and he is regarded today as the world's first cataract surgeon. Aristotle discovered the three layers of the eye through his dissection experiments on animal eyes. Rufus of Ephesus discovered the epithelial (fourth) layer, and Galen described the cornea, lens, and optic nerve. From the Middle Ages to the 1900s, the understanding of the eye advanced significantly. Georg Beer pioneered an operation for the removal of cataracts (known as 'Beer's operation'), and Baron Michael Johann Baptist de Wenzel, who treated King George III, was also renowned for his expertise in cataract removal. Moorfields Eye Hospital, the world's first hospital dedicated exclusively to ophthalmology, opened in 1805 in London, and it is still in existence.

Hermann von Helmholtz is credited with having invented the ophthalmoscope in 1851. Across the world, this instrument is now used in routine eye exams daily. The ophthalmoscope increased knowledge about the eye among the ophthalmologists of the nineteenth century, and it also promoted greater accuracy and precision in diagnosis. Treatment methods drastically improved during this time, and operations for glaucoma were refined during this era. In the modern age, the invention of laser surgery for vision correction and treatment of eye diseases has greatly improved outcomes for patients and reduced side effects.

Ophthalmology Specialties

Many ophthalmologists choose to specialize in a particular area of eye health or surgery. For example, some professionals specialize in the treatment of glaucoma, and others practice ocular oncology, a subspecialty that deals with medical and surgical care for patients with eye cancers. In the field of neuro-ophthalmology, eye specialists are concerned with the treatment of conditions involving nerve damage that impacts vision. For example, neuro-ophthalmologists routinely treat cases in which damage to the optic nerve has compromised vision.

Some ophthalmologists specialize in refractive surgery that can improve visual acuity through surgical means, and others choose to work in the field of anterior segment surgery. This surgical area includes procedures involving the iris, cornea, ciliary body, and lens. One of the most popular ophthalmology specialties is oculoplastics. Oculoplastics specialists are ophthalmologists who are specially trained in surgical methods that can include orbital surgery, cosmetic procedures to enhance the eyelids, and reconstructions of the upper area of the face.