May 4, 2024
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It consists of two words of Latin origin: (Ophthalmos which means "eye") and (-logia, "study” or “science”) when you put them together it means "the study/science of the eyes".
It studies everything related to the eyes , its anatomy (its structure) , its physiology (how it normally works), its pathology (whatever diseases that could affect any part or function of the eye), its management (how to diagnose and treat any disease whether medically or surgically or by any other method).
Whoever specializes in ophthalmology is known as: ophthalmologist. An ophthalmologist is a doctor who graduated from medical school then specialized in ophthalmology and took an ophthalmology residency training for at least 5 years and is certified to treat most ophthalmological diseases through a diploma, Master’s degree, PhD, and/or became a member/fellow ophthalmologist.
This is totally different than an Optician who is a technician trained to design, measure and fit your eyeglasses’ lenses, contact lenses and any other devices to correct your eyesight. Opticians cannot work on their own, they must use prescriptions provided by ophthalmologists. You can find them in your eyeglasses store but not inside the clinic or hospital itself, as they are not allowed to diagnose or treat any type of eye disease.
The eye is the window to our souls and vision is one of the 5 senses God created for us to feel the outside world. And since our eyes are very sensitive to the surroundings, it can be affected by various external and internal diseases.
Any change in our eye structure or function may risk loss of vision partially, totally and/or permanently.
Ophthalmology comes to the rescue, as it studies how the eyes and the visual system works normally, it can also detect any slight change in this intricate system. Treating these changes as soon as diagnosed and preventing major and minor complications!
Usually the first step in diagnosing in any disease, is to notice a change. And the first person to notice a change in his/her eyesight is the patient itself!
If the patient is an adult, he can complain of:
If the patient is a child or infant, usually the parents or caregivers are the first to notice any abnormal changes in the child’s eyes, like :
It is crucial to visit an ophthalmologist if you complain of one or more of these symptoms. The earlier the problem is detected, the easier it is to manage it and prevent complications.
When a patient comes with a complain, your doctor takes it very seriously, asking more and more questions about it, like:
After answering these questions, your doctor has already suspected one or more disease, to confirm his diagnosis he will ask you to undergo some tests like:
General tests:
Eye tests:
Here are the top ten diseases diagnosed and treated by ophthalmologists:
Each disease is unique on its own and may require multiple interventions for treatment, meaning that one method of treatment may not be sufficient. Usually the ophthalmologist depends on one or more of the following methods to treat a disease:
Ophthalmology has many subspecialties, and the more time the doctor spent in this subspecialty the more professional he/she becomes in managing its related cases.
Some doctors spend more than 12 years studying one subspecialty of ophthalmology making them experts and pioneers in this field.
Ophthalmology is a very intricate study; it deals with one of the most sophisticated systems of our body: Vision. It needs years of practice to become a certified ophthalmologist and In Magrabi hospitals, we not only seek the top ophthalmologists, we mentor them! Providing them will all the tools required to maintain their status as the number one specialists/consultants in their field!