Robert Mickel, MD

• Can alcohol abuse cause eye twitching?

  In general, eye twitches are caused by too much stress or a lack of sleep. Maybe the alcohol is just triggering it, and those are the root causes.

• What are the early signs of cataracts?

  Cataracts are usually very small at the beginning and gradually grow larger over time. Early signs of cataracts include blurry vision and night halos and glare. In people with refractive visual errors, cataracts always cause a rapid prescription change because the lens is deteriorating. Only when daily lives are disrupted, cataracts require external removal. In some cases, tiny small cataracts in infants or youngsters do not draw serious concern.

• What is the difference between pterygium and pinguecula?

  In most cases, pingueculae and pterygia do not have obvious symptoms. However, they have different signs in some cases. Irritation-caused pinguecula make people feel something in the eye and some pingueculae may become swollen and inflamed, a condition named pingueculitis. Differently, some pterygia become red, large or thick. Large and advanced pterygia may cause corneal distortion and astigmatism.

• What are the symptoms of eye occlusion?

  There are several types of eye occlusion depending on the different location: Branch retinal artery occlusion, Branch retinal vein occlusion, Central Retinal Artery Occlusion, Central Retinal Vein Occlusion. Different type may have different cause and symptom, such as BRAO is usually caused by a small clot. A BRAO can cause a sudden loss of peripheral vision, BRVO can cause a small clot in a retinal vein. CRAO can cause sudden, serious, but painless loss of vision in one eye and CRVO causes mild to severe sudden but painless loss of vision.

• Is there any tips to prevent astigmatism?

  Eat healthy foods which contain much vision-beneficial substances, e.g. vitamin A, vitamin D, lutein and zeaxanthin etc. Fruits and vegetables are widely recommended. Moreover, many eye care practitioners suggest that doing eye exercises every day is helpful in preventing visual refractive errors. Some others even believe their effectiveness on vision improvement.

• How to get used to progressive glasses quickly?

  To help you get used to progressive glasses quickly, you should stop wearing your old glasses immediately and wear new progressive glasses as long as possible all day. Put on the glasses as close to your face as possible.

• Can I buy eye drops for infection over the counter?

  Of course you can. I believe there are some eye drops designed to lower high eye pressure. You can go to nearby pharmacy and have a look. Maybe the staff there can give you some suggestion.

• Is it normal to get itchy eyes after lasik?

  Yes. It is normal. You can consult with your doctor to see how to treat this problem. Probably you itchy eyes will go away by itself very soon. But you shouldn't rub your eyes after the surgery in case it will cause some other problems.

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