Difference between ophthalmologist, optometrist and optician

Although these three professional figures are intrinsically linked, they differ in the type of specialization and approach to problems related to the eye.

The ophthalmologist is a doctor who specializes in eye health. They differ from optometrists and opticians in what they can diagnose and treat. An ophthalmologist can treat all eye diseases, perform eye surgery, and prescribe glasses and contact lenses to correct vision problems.

The optometrist is a vision specialist and deals with the quantification and treatment of visual defects with optical-physical means and, in general, with the improvement of visual functions with non-medical techniques, ie excluding the use of drugs and surgical interventions, which are the domain of the ophthalmologist.

The optician, on the other hand, is a technician who is able to package and check glasses, contact lenses and all other instruments that can correct a bad view. They use the prescription of an ophthalmologist or optometrist to create these instruments, but they are not required to take sight tests or prescribe any type of medical help in the first person. Furthermore, they are not able to diagnose or treat eye diseases.

The most commonly treated diseases

The most common pathologies that fall into the study of ophthalmology are:

• Ametropia: includes all the problems related to sight problems for which the correction is used by means of glasses or contact lenses.
• Cataract: is the process of progressive loss of transparency of the lens in the eye, with a consequent decrease in visual capacity.
• Glaucoma: glaucomas are a group of eye diseases that consist of damage to the optic nerve and the consequent loss of vision.
• Macular degeneration: it is a disease that affects the central area of ​​the retina and leads to a loss of focus or complete loss of central vision.
• Diabetic retinopathy: it is a disease related to diabetes that can cause damage to the retina. It is one of the main causes of blindness.
• Dry eye: it is a disease related to an alteration of the state of hydration of the eye
• Strabismus: it is a disorder in which the eyes are not correctly aligned when they concentrate to look at an object. The condition may occur occasionally or be permanent.
• Proptosis: consists of a protrusion of the eyeball out of orbit. It can be a bilateral or unilateral condition. This condition can also be the result of a trauma.
• Epiphora: it is a clinical condition that consists in an increased secretion of tears by the lacrimal gland due to various phenomena that can affect the conjunctiva, the lacrimal pathways, etc.
• Uveitis: it is an inflammation of the uvea.
• Eye cancer: covers all types of cancer that affect the region in the eye. They can be benign or malignant.

Ametropia

Surely the group of pathologies most commonly treated by ophthalmology are those related to visual defects, ametropia. In these cases there is a refraction defect so that the parallel rays coming from the objects do not fire directly on the retina.

There are three types of ametropia: myopia, hypermetropia and astigmatism.

If you are suffering from an ametropia the most common and simple solution is to wear glasses or contact lenses promptly prescribed by the specialist after a visit. Thanks to the lenses, in fact, it is possible to correct the problem and balance the lack of diopters.

Myopia

Myopia is the type of ametropia for which the image fire is located in front of the retinal plane instead of on the retina. This results in the difficulty of the myopic eye in focusing on distant objects, while the efficiency will be greater towards neighboring objects, even compared to a healthy eye. Myopia is often caused by a physical problem caused by genetic or environmental factors.

Farsightedness

Hypermetropia is the type of ametropia that occurs when light rays, not correctly reaching the surface of the eye, focus beyond the retina, so as not to determine a correct focal vision. The result of hypermetropia is the possibility of seeing better from afar compared to a healthy eye but with difficulty in focusing on nearby objects.

Astigmatism

Astigmatism is the type of ametropia for which there is no single focal point. This problem makes it difficult to see objects because the eye tends to distort them. It is often due to hereditary causes.

Eye surgery

In some cases the use of surgery is necessary in the correction and treatment of diseases affecting the eye area. The branch of surgery that deals with this type of surgery is called eye surgery. The eye is a very delicate organ and therefore the procedure must be carried out with maximum safety for the patient.