Ophthalmology

Cataracts, glaucoma and retinal disease are among the conditions our ophthalmologists treat, and they operate as well as prescribe. Our teams see children with a lazy eye or a squint. We also investigate sight that's failing because of the optic nerve or the brain rather than the eye.

What is ophthalmology?

Ophthalmology covers the eye and the visual system, medically and surgically. Ophthalmologists are doctors: they examine you, prescribe treatment, and operate. Cataract surgery, retinal repairs, and squint surgery are typical of the operations they perform.

Much of the work is long-term rather than a single fix. Glaucoma and diabetic eye disease are followed for years, often for life. Optometrists test sight and can spot eye disease early. Opticians supply glasses.

Areas within ophthalmology

Neuro-ophthalmology: Some sight problems start in the nervous system rather than the eye, and tracing them is what this area does.

Optometry: This is the non-medical side of eye care: testing sight, then prescribing glasses or contact lenses.

Orthokeratology: Wearing a lens overnight reshapes the cornea, so short sight stays corrected right through the next day.

Paediatric ophthalmology: Children's eyes are still developing, which is why a lazy eye or a squint is treated early.

When should you see an ophthalmologist?

Book an appointment if you notice:

• Blurred or cloudy vision that new glasses do not fix
• Trouble reading or seeing clearly at night
• A red or sticky eye that has not cleared up in a few days
• Headlights and lamps that dazzle you more than they used to
• Eyes that feel dry and gritty week after week
• An eye that turns in or out, in a child or an adult

New floaters or flashes of light in your vision are different. Get advice on the same day rather than waiting for an appointment.

Sudden eye pain with redness and rainbow rings around lights is an emergency: seek emergency care straight away.

Regular eye tests pick up glaucoma and diabetic eye disease long before you notice a change. That makes a check worthwhile if you live with diabetes or have glaucoma in the family. And if an optometrist finds something on a routine sight test, they'll pass you on to an ophthalmologist.

What to expect

Your first appointment starts with questions about your sight, your general health, and any medicines you take. Your vision is then measured on a letter chart, and the pressure inside your eye is checked. Drops are often used to widen the pupil, which blurs your vision for a few hours afterwards. You'll have some of these checks again at every visit.

What happens next depends on what's found, and many problems are solved with glasses or contact lenses alone. Others are treated with drops for glaucoma or with injections that go into the eye. Surgery comes in where the eye itself has to be repaired, or a cloudy lens replaced. Your ophthalmologist will explain what each option involves and plan the next step with you.

Ophthalmology at Mediclinic

We start where you do, with a full eye examination and a sight test. For plenty of people that settles it, and glasses or contact lenses are the whole treatment. LASIK is the other route for short sight, a laser operation that reshapes the cornea.

Much of what we do beyond that is surgical, and cataract operations with a lens implant, squint correction and repair of a detached retina are only part of it. Where keratoconus has weakened the cornea, cross-linking can strengthen it, and a corneal transplant is there if it cannot. Our surgeons at Mediclinic Airport Road Hospital have access to a theatre designed for eye surgery. The recovery area is set up for the same work.

You'll find our eye departments in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Al Ain. At Mediclinic City Hospital, the eye department is split into units, so you see the one that handles your condition. Children's eye care and squint surgery share a single unit there. Diabetes is common in this region, so in all three cities we check the retina for its effects and treat what we find.