Macular Degeneration Treatment in Pasadena, California
Helping Restore Deteriorating Vision
Visit one of our locations in Pasadena, West Covina, Whittier, & Pomona.
Macular Degeneration is a condition in which the central area of the retina, also known as the macula, has deteriorated or is deteriorating. The macula is the retina’s central portion and is responsible for focusing the central vision in the eye.
The condition is quite a common condition, with more than 15 million Americans having some form of it. It is most common in older individuals and is a leading cause of blindness in those over 65, those who experience heavy exposure to sunlight, those who consume diets high in saturated fats and cholesterol, those who seldom exercise, as well as individuals with vascular disease and high blood pressure.
Symptoms of macular degeneration include a distortion of straight lines in your field of vision, a reduction in central vision, the gradual need for brighter lighting, difficulty adapting to lower lighting, blurriness, and difficulty recognizing faces.
Most people do not experience vision loss in the early stages of macular degeneration, and regular eye exams can help to catch it before it worsens to intermediate macular degeneration. With intermediate macular degeneration, patients may experience some vision loss, and by late macular degeneration, vision loss becomes noticeable. In the early stages and with the dry form of macular degeneration, the macula becomes too thin to function properly.
Dry AMD does not typically cause severe vision loss, but if it progresses into the wet condition, new blood vessels will grow on the macula. Over time, this can cause the macula to scar and damage light-sensitive tissues, eventually leading to blindness.
Over the last decade, there have been tremendous advancements in the management of wet macular degeneration due to the introduction of intraocular injections, which can be performed by our gentle and caring team under local anesthesia.
If treatment is given at the appropriate time, vision loss can be stopped and often reversed. Therefore, it is critical to be evaluated at earlier signs and symptoms, and receive regular checkups to detect early symptoms.
