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Keratitis is a condition that affects the cornea of the eye. Over time, this condition can lead to serious problems, including blindness. There are a number of different things that can cause keratitis, but the important thing to remember is that getting prompt medical attention is the most important factor when it comes to preventing long-term damage to your vision.
So, what exactly is keratitis? What causes it? And what can you do to treat it?
What Is Keratitis?
The cornea is the clear, dome-shaped structure that covers the center of the eye. It protects the softer parts of your eye like the iris and pupil and helps to focus light into the eye. Thus, the cornea plays a central role in the way your eyes see.
But when you have keratitis, the cornea gradually becomes irritated and inflamed. As a result, the cornea becomes cloudy, which can affect your ability to see. According to the Mayo Clinic, the symptoms include things like:
- Eye redness.
- Eye pain.
- Excess tears or other discharge from your eye.
- Difficulty opening your eyelid because of pain or irritation.
- Blurred vision.
- Decreased vision.
- Sensitivity to light (photophobia).
- A feeling that something is in your eye.
The symptoms are generally fairly mild at first, but over time, they can get much worse. And in some cases, the damage done to the cornea can be permanent. That’s why it’s important to see a doctor as soon as possible if you are experiencing any of these symptoms. And there are a lot of different things that can cause the condition, so it’s always a good idea to be on the lookout for these symptoms.
What Causes It?
Causes of keratitis can vary widely, but generally, the condition is the result of damage to the cornea or infection. An injury is a common cause. Scratches across the cornea can irritate the tissue which causes the symptoms of the condition. And the injury can also leave you vulnerable to further infections of the tissue.
And infection itself is often a cause of the condition. And there are a number of different viruses that cause keratitis symptoms like herpes zoster, and the virus that causes chlamydia.
In addition, the growth in the number of people wearing contact lenses has increased the number of cases. Contacts can serve as a place for dangerous bacteria, viruses, and fungi to grow. And when you put an infected contact lens in your eye, it can leave the cornea vulnerable to infection.
But the contacts themselves can also be dangerous to your eyes. If you frequently sleep in your contacts or leave them in for days at a time, you’re raising the risk of injuring your eyes. When you leave your contacts in they can dry out and become harder, which makes it possible for them to leave tiny scratches across your cornea. Over time, these scratches can irritate your eyes and leave you vulnerable to infection.
Finally, people often develop keratitis after swimming. Many bodies of water contain forms of bacteria, parasites, or fungi that can infect your corneas. And swimming pools contain chemicals like chlorine that can irritate the cornea. Always make sure to be careful when swimming and wear protective goggles.
How Can You Treat It?
Keratitis can lead to a number of complications like chronic inflammation in the eyes and even open ulcers within the eye itself. Both of these conditions can lead to permanent damage to your vision. So getting treatment is vital to preserving your sight.
The forms of treatment vary based on what the cause of your condition is. If the root lies in non-infectious issues like wearing contact lenses, the doctors recommend avoiding contacts and giving your eye a chance to rest. They may even suggest wearing an eye patch to avoid further damage until the cornea has a chance to fully heal.
If the condition is caused by bacteria or viruses, the treatment generally relies on antibiotic eye drops. These medications help kill the source of the infection and protect your cornea from further inflammation.
In some cases, particularly if the condition goes untreated for a long time, the damage to the cornea can be permanent. In this situation, the only real way to treat the complications is with a corneal transplant, where a healthy donor cornea is transplanted into your eye to restore your vision.
Obviously, this is a less-than-ideal solution. That’s why it’s so important to get treatment early.
So, do you have keratitis? What do you do to treat it? Let us know in the comments.
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