When we do an eye examination we don’t just look at your prescription and the inner mysteries of the eyeball itself. Looking in and around it gives us plenty of information that may just save more than your sight….

On more than one occasion we’ve sent a patient to have a suspicious mole checked out, that of course we notice when talking to a patient at close proximity and noticing it on their face. While these are sometimes harmless, we have had patients with malignant melanoma that we’ve picked up, or rodent ulcers. Rodent ulcers, or Basal Cell Carcinomas, are slow growing, non-malignant skin tumours, but they don’t heal and can cause considerable localised damage if left untreated.

Xanthelasma is a common skin problem that shows up as flat yellow patches on the skin, usually around the nasal side of the eye socket. They are collections of lipids in the superficial dermis layer of the skin. Blood cholesterol and lipid levels should be checked, as in 30% of cases they are due to high cholesterol. They are easily removed surgically, with chemicals or laser treatment.

High blood pressure is often diagnosed by examining the blood vessels inside the eye. The optician gently telling the patient to get this investigated is often the time when this problem is picked up. Signs of Diabetic problems are often picked up by us too, when we examine the retina and the growth of any new blood vessels.

Arcus Senilis is an eye problem that many people think is connected with high cholesterol levels, although that actually isn’t the case and it doesn’t require treatment. It’s a grey or white ring that appears above and below the cornea – the clear window at the front of the eye – and is common in older adults. Although it’s due to fat deposits deep in the cornea, it’s not an indicator of high cholesterol.

Eye showing ArcusSenilis