Floaters: The small "bugs" or specks you may see in your field of vision are called "floaters". They are visible when looking at a blank background such as a page in a book, the sky or a blank wall. Floaters are actually tiny particles of the gel of the eye known as the vitreous. The vitreous is the jelly-like material inside the eye's cavity. Even thought the floaters may appear in front of the eye, they are actually floating in the jelly like fluid inside the eye. Most of the time floaters are quite harmless, but if a person notices a sudden appearance of them a dilated eye exam should be performed. Any sudden change with the number of floaters, sudden loss of vision or loss of ones field of vision should be checked immediately.

Flashes: Flashes of light accompanying floaters are caused by the retinal cells being tugged as the clump of gel detaches from the back wall of the eye. The flashes of light may continue for several weeks or even months after first experiencing a floater.

Dry Eye: When the eye cannot produce enough tears to keep the eye comfortable, it is called Dry Eye. Symptoms include: stinging or burning eyes, scratchiness, mucuous strands in or around the eye, irritation caused from smoke or wind, excessive tearing or contact lense discomfort. Dry Eye can be caused by arthritis, medications such as diuretics, betablockers, antihistamines or sleeping pills, or by common aging.

Dry Eye can be treated by the use of artificial tear drops, or with a procedure in which the tear ducts are blocked to keep tears on the eye's surface instead of draining through the small canal into the nose. This closure conserves your own tears and makes artificial tears last longer.

Blepharitis: Symptoms of blepharitis include itching eyelids which are red and irritated and sticking together.

Trichiasis: Trichiasis is caused when eyelashes turn in, causing irritation and possibly scratching your eye. This condition can cause permanent corneal damage if not diagnosed and treated.

Macular Degeneration: Macular degeneration is a deterioration of the macula, or the small area on the back of the eye that gives us our central vision and the ability to read small print. It is generally brought on by the body's natural aging process. Macular degeneration affects both distance and close vision, and its symptoms are blurriness or darkness in our central vision, or straight lines looking distorted. Peripheral vision is not affected by macular degeneration. The two common types are Dry and Wet macular degeneration. The most common is Dry and is caused by aging and thinning of tissues of the macula. Vision loss is usually gradual. Wet macular degeneration accounts for 10% of all cases. Vision loss may be rapid and severe. It may sometimes be treated with laser surgery to seal off the leaking areas so the process does not progress further resulting in further vision loss.

Retinal hole, Retinal detachment, Retinal tear: Most retinal detachments are caused by the presence of one or more small tears in the retina. Sometimes, through aging, the retina thins and deteriorates. But more commonly the shrinkage of the vitreous body is responsible for deterioration and retinal tears. The vitreous body is the clear gel-like substance which fills the center of the eye.

The vitreous is firmly attached to the retina in several places around the retinal wall. As the vitreous shrinks it may also pull a piece of the retina away with it. This leaves a hole or tear in the retina. Some shrinkage of the vitreous body occurs naturally with aging and usually causes no damage.

Dr. Croley may detect early stages of macular degeneration during a routine dilated examination or with an angiogram, a special type of photography of the eye done along with fluourescent dye injected into the arm. Treatment of macular degeneration depends on the type (wet or dry) and the stage the patient is in.