Details on ophthalmology for students considering becoming an eye surgeon

A cornea transplant takes places when a cornea becomes damaged or diseased. For instance, if someone is stricken with Fuchs dystrophy (a corneal diseases which affects patients who are aged 50+) or Keratoconus (a degenerative disorder that affects the shape of the cornea, making it more conical than curved) then a cornea transplant is usually required. During this simple operation healthy corneal tissue is grafted on to the diseased part of the cornea to restore the eye back to full health - the graft coming from a donor who has just passed away. Keratoconus surgery or cornea transplants or are often categorised as the most severe treatment options for cornea disease - this is because in most cases conditions can be treated by simply wearing corrective lenses.

There are many clinics within a range of locations. In the main treatment clinics are located in large metropolitan areas such as Sheffield, Glasgow and Leeds. If you are searching for eye surgery close by then London could be the place for you. As their reputation precedes them, the treatment centres will add you to what could be a lengthy waiting list. An advantage of this means that the clinic staff are vastly experienced. In several cases, they could be officially or unofficially linked up with registered opticians so a simple suggestions is to have a chat with your own optician for their honest assessment before contacting an eye surgeon.

Even though you may believe that cataracts only affects older people, younger people can be affected by the condition too. These are called congenital cataracts, which develop prior to or just after birth. This condition is a clouding of the eye, varying in intensity from mild severity to complete opacity. Symptoms include myopia, also known as near-sightedness, a failure to perceive the colour blue and a slow yellowing of the lens itself. A cataract operation or surgery are two treatment options. If it is not treated loss of vision and, in the worst case scenario, blindness can develop. In older people the lens can shrink and swell.

Macular degeneration is a condition which affects older adults and results in loss of vision in the macula (the centre of the visual field) due to damage to the retina. When it develops it can cause impaired visions, specifically when reading or when trying to recognise faces. There are two forms of macular degeneration; dry and wet. The first is caused when the cells in the macula degenerate and accumulate behind the retina. Alternatively, wet macular degeneration is classed as the more serious of the two and is caused by abnormal blood vessel growth behind the retina which leads to leakage below the macula. As the effects can be prevented using vitamins and mineral supplements lasik eye surgery is not necessarily always needed.

Lasik eye surgery is a variety of refractive surgery that helps to fix hyeropia, astigmatism and myopia. As a result, this surgery is a viable alternative to wearing corrective lenses or glasses, which many people do not like to wear everyday. In certain aspects the procedure is similar to other corrective surgical alternatives such as refractive surgery and photo-refractive keratectomy and is therefore a popular solution to eye sight problems. As a procedure, it involves surgical remodelling of the cornea, specifically reshaping its curvature. There are chances that the eye will reject the surgery and gently return to its former state, however other side effects are low.

The technology utilised by ophthalmologists changes depending on the eye condition being treated. If a patient is undergoing invasive cornea surgery a Ziemer LDV Femtosecond precision laser will be used. This piece of equipment enables a surgeon to operate on an eye without the need for a blade. A new form of non-invasive imaging technology, OCT (Ocular Coherence Tomographer), is being used increasingly to map the shape, size and contours of the eye. For more specialist conditions there is also Anti-VEGF drugs and Fluorescein angiography treatments. These are only a few examples of the procedures and equipment being used currently by professional ophthalmologists.

After browsing the article you should have a pretty good idea of whether a career in eye surgery could be the best option for you.