Did you know that blindness affects women more than men? The National Institutes of Health reports that 2/3rds of the people with blindness or visual impairments are women. Often, hormones, and especially life changes such as pregnancy and menopause, cause changes in women’s eyes.

Low vision generally means impaired vision, and it can happen whether you are young or old. Many people have low vision (meaning they can’t see well) due to hereditary conditions, eye diseases or eye injuries. Some people don’t see well at sunset with changing light and others have vision that deteriorates slowly as they age.

At some point in our lives, most of us will experience some form of vision loss. Educating yourself on the most common conditions will help you recognize signs and symptoms. Acting early on the onset of some symptoms is crucial for reversible conditions. Educate yourself on these six most common eye problems to prolong your good eye health: refractive errors, cataracts, keratoconus, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma.

According to the American Macular Degeneration Association, macular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss, affecting more than 10 million Americans. This makes it even more common than cataracts and glaucoma combined. All of these conditions can lead to blindness, but not all of their progression can be reversed. Macular degeneration causes vision loss in the center of your field of vision. Once it’s gone, there’s no getting that vision back. This is a painless disorder that can affect either eye.

There are countless conditions and diseases that can target the eyes and affect your ability to see. Once damaged, can your eyes be healed once more? There are many common conditions such as glaucoma, macular degeneration, nearsightedness, farsightedness and more that our patients struggle with. Some conditions that involve eye damage or vision damage can be reversed while others can’t.

Your eyes are ever changing from infancy to adulthood. Good vision is not something your child is immediately born with. Vision develops over time, and the first 10 years of a child’s life are the most crucial for proper vision development. An infant sees colors, shapes, outlines, etc., all at different stages.