Common eye conditions

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an eye condition that affects a small part of the retina at the back of the eye, called the macula.

AMD causes difficulties with central vision, but does not usually lead to a total loss of eyesight. The condition affects the vision we use to look at something directly, such as when we’re reading, watching television or looking at people’s faces. AMD often makes central vision distorted or blurry, and over a period of time, it may cause a blank patch in our central vision while many people’s side or peripheral vision is unaffected.

If you would like to speak to someone face-to-face about your eye health or find out more about the range of support and services available for people with sight loss, you can talk to our specialist Eye Clinic Liaison Officer (ECLO).

Our ECLO and his dedicated team of hospital volunteers are there for you from your first hospital appointment and throughout the entire treatment, helping you understand more about your eye condition and supporting you to make sense of what you’re going through.

Our ECLO is based at:

The Macular Clinic
B Floor
Ophthalmology Department
Queen’s Medical Centre
Derby Road
Nottingham
NG7 2UH

Tel: 0115 9706806

Cataracts is a common eye condition. As we get older, the lens inside our eye gradually changes and becomes less transparent. A lens that has turned misty may have a cataract. Over time a cataract may get worse, gradually making vision appear more cloudy and misty.

A straight-forward operation, usually performed as a day-case procedure can usually remove the cloudy lens and replace it with an artificial one restoring clearer vision.

If you would like to speak to someone face-to-face about your eye health or find out more about the range of support and services available for people with sight loss, you can talk to our specialist Eye Clinic Liaison Officer (ECLO).

Our ECLO and his dedicated team of hospital volunteers are there for you from your first hospital appointment and throughout the entire treatment, helping you understand more about your eye condition and supporting you to make sense of what you’re going through.

Our ECLO is based at:

The Macular Clinic
B Floor
Ophthalmology Department
Queen’s Medical Centre
Derby Road
Nottingham
NG7 2UH

Tel: 0115 9706806

Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS) is a common condition among people who’ve lost their, causing them to see things that aren’t really there – known by doctors as an hallucination. Although often quite frightening, CBS hallucinations are caused by sight loss and are not related to any mental health issue.

CBS tends to develop soon after significant sight loss and is caused by how the brain responds loss of vision. When people lose their sight the brain doesn’t receive as much information from the eyes as it is used to and so it tries to fill in the gaps by releasing new images that aren’t really there like random patterns or old pictures stored in the brain from the past.

If you would like to speak to someone face-to-face about your eye health or find out more about the range of support and services available for people with sight loss, you can talk to our specialist Eye Clinic Liaison Officer (ECLO).

Our ECLO and his dedicated team of hospital volunteers are there for you from your first hospital appointment and throughout the entire treatment, helping you understand more about your eye condition and supporting you to make sense of what you’re going through.

Our ECLO is based at:

The Macular Clinic
B Floor
Ophthalmology Department
Queen’s Medical Centre
Derby Road
Nottingham
NG7 2UH

Tel: 0115 9706806

Diabetes occurs when the body no longer produce sufficient quantities of insulin, or when the insulin that is produced has a reduced effect. Insulin is used by the body to regulate the way food is processed. People who have diabetes can no longer process sugar and other carbohydrates as efficiently as they did before. Diabetes is on the increase in the UK, with almost one person in 25 suffering from the condition.

Diabetes can affect eye sight in a number of different ways. The most serious eye condition associated with diabetes affects the network of tiny blood vessels to the retina at the back of the eye – a condition known as diabetic retinopathy.

Not everyone who has diabetes develops an eye complication and for those that do, many people have a very mild form of retinopathy, which may never cause vision loss. It is, however, very important that people with diabetes attend regular eye-screening appointments so that the health of the eye can be monitored and action taken as the earliest opportunity before significant sight loss occurs.

If you would like to speak to someone face-to-face about your eye health or find out more about the range of support and services available for people with sight loss, you can talk to our specialist Eye Clinic Liaison Officer (ECLO).

Our ECLO and his dedicated team of hospital volunteers are there for you from your first hospital appointment and throughout the entire treatment, helping you understand more about your eye condition and supporting you to make sense of what you’re going through.

Our ECLO is based at:

The Macular Clinic
B Floor
Ophthalmology Department
Queen’s Medical Centre
Derby Road
Nottingham
NG7 2UH

Tel: 0115 9706806

Glaucoma is a group of eye conditions, which cause optic nerve damage. Glaucoma damages the optic nerve at the point where it leaves the eye. The damage may be caused by raised eye pressure or by a weakness in the optic nerve itself.

Glaucoma can be difficult to detect and is often discovered during a routine eye test. It is therefore important that people visit their optician at least every two years, a visit to the optician is painless and may detect various sight-threatening eye conditions such as glaucoma.

Most people with glaucoma successfully use eye drops for many years. Using drops regularly helps to keep the pressure in the eye under control and minimises damage to the eyes, which may cause vision loss.

If you would like to speak to someone face-to-face about your eye health or find out more about the range of support and services available for people with sight loss, you can talk to our specialist Eye Clinic Liaison Officer (ECLO).

Our ECLO and his dedicated team of hospital volunteers are there for you from your first hospital appointment and throughout the entire treatment, helping you understand more about your eye condition and supporting you to make sense of what you’re going through.

Our ECLO is based at:

The Macular Clinic
B Floor
Ophthalmology Department
Queen’s Medical Centre
Derby Road
Nottingham
NG7 2UH

Tel: 0115 9706806

Nystagmus is an eye condition which causes wobbly vision or uncontrollable and constant eye movement. Most common movement or side to side but less often they can also be up and down or in a circular movement. As a result of this constant movement, most people with Nystagmus experience a reduction in their functional

There are two types of nystagmus, congenital nystagmus is an inherited eye condition that usually appears shortly after birth. The second type develops in later life and is often called ‘acquired nystagmus’. Both types of nystagmus might be helped by glasses or low vision aids, but research into finding a cure for the condition is on-going.

If you would like to speak to someone face-to-face about your eye health or find out more about the range of support and services available for people with sight loss, you can talk to our specialist Eye Clinic Liaison Officer (ECLO).

Our ECLO and his dedicated team of hospital volunteers are there for you from your first hospital appointment and throughout the entire treatment, helping you understand more about your eye condition and supporting you to make sense of what you’re going through.

Our ECLO is based at:

The Macular Clinic
B Floor
Ophthalmology Department
Queen’s Medical Centre
Derby Road
Nottingham
NG7 2UH

Tel: 0115 9706806

Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) is the name given to a group of genetically inherited eye conditions that affect the retina at the back of the eye.

RP causes permanent changes to eye sight, but how much vision is affected and how quickly the changes take place varies enormously from person to person.

For people with RP, faulty genes cause the cells in the retina to stop working and eventually die. This affects the eye’s ability to process light, so that people with RP are often sensitive to light and may find bright light, changes in light levels and seeing in dull conditions such as outside at night or in dimply lit rooms difficult, this is often called night blindness. Many people with RP also loose peripheral vision which means seeing things straight ahead is easier but seeing things to the side is more difficult.

If you would like to speak to someone face-to-face about your eye health or find out more about the range of support and services available for people with sight loss, you can talk to our specialist Eye Clinic Liaison Officer (ECLO).

Our ECLO and his dedicated team of hospital volunteers are there for you from your first hospital appointment and throughout the entire treatment, helping you understand more about your eye condition and supporting you to make sense of what you’re going through.

Our ECLO is based at:

The Macular Clinic
B Floor
Ophthalmology Department
Queen’s Medical Centre
Derby Road
Nottingham
NG7 2UH

Tel: 0115 9706806

A retinal detachment occurs when the retina at the back of the eye separates of from the back of the inside of the eye. Symptoms of a retinal detachment may include seeing ‘floaters’ or flashing lights, dark shadows or blurring of the vision.

These symptoms may not be caused by a retinal detachment but the only way to know for sure is to make an appointment to see an optician as quickly as possible, preferably within 24 hours. Delays in having an eye examination and starting treatment could result in loss the sight in the affected eye. Retinal detachments can be treated fairly successful with surgery.

If you would like to speak to someone face-to-face about your eye health or find out more about the range of support and services available for people with sight loss, you can talk to our specialist Eye Clinic Liaison Officer (ECLO).

Our ECLO and his dedicated team of hospital volunteers are there for you from your first hospital appointment and throughout the entire treatment, helping you understand more about your eye condition and supporting you to make sense of what you’re going through.

Our ECLO is based at:

The Macular Clinic
B Floor
Ophthalmology Department
Queen’s Medical Centre
Derby Road
Nottingham
NG7 2UH

Tel: 0115 9706806

Everyone’s ability to see involves not only the eyes but also the brain, so people who experience a stroke may also experience issues with their vision. Visual impairments caused by a stroke are often complex to understand and treat.

Some of the main stroke-related visual impairments include a loss of visual field that makes it difficult to see to the left or right when looking straight ahead, eye muscle and nerve damage that may cause double or blurred vision and issues with visual processing which make it harder to make sense of what we see.

If you would like to speak to someone face-to-face about your eye health or find out more about the range of support and services available for people with sight loss, you can talk to our specialist Eye Clinic Liaison Officer (ECLO).

Our ECLO and his dedicated team of hospital volunteers are there for you from your first hospital appointment and throughout the entire treatment, helping you understand more about your eye condition and supporting you to make sense of what you’re going through.

Our ECLO is based at:

The Macular Clinic
B Floor
Ophthalmology Department
Queen’s Medical Centre
Derby Road
Nottingham
NG7 2UH

Tel: 0115 9706806