As part of diagnosing macular degeneration, the first step should be having a dilated eye exam. Your doctor will use eyedrops to dilate them, then utilize special microscopes and ophthalmoscopes to inspect your retina and optic nerve for signs of macular degeneration.

Macular degeneration comes in two varieties – dry and wet. The dry form causes gradual loss of central vision while wet type happens when fragile blood vessels develop and leak fluid beneath the macula.

Blurred vision

Blurred vision is an indicator of many eye health conditions, from cataracts and glaucoma to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) or detached retina and brain stroke. Any change in vision should be treated immediately.

Blurring can affect either eye and can affect distance, near, and central vision. It may also be accompanied by symptoms like tunnel vision, blind spots, halos or sudden loss of vision.

The macula is the part of your retina located at the back of your eye that enables you to see fine details, colors and objects directly in front of you. In macular degeneration, cells in this area of retina begin dying off, leading to blind spots and distortion in central vision. Blurred vision may also be indicative of wet macular degeneration where blood vessels leak fluid build-up within macula cells which create blind spots and cause distortions of central vision.

Straight lines such as door frames or lampposts may appear wavy or blurry if wet macular degeneration is present, a telltale early indicator. As soon as this occurs, contact your doctor immediately as this could be an early indicator. They will conduct various tests including photography or imaging to examine your macula for early signs of ARMD (such as OCT).

Blurred vision may be caused by refractive error, and correction can be achieved using glasses or contact lenses. It may also be due to eye infection or disease such as conjunctivitis (pink eye).

Spots on the Amsler grid

An Amsler Grid macular degeneration test can detect early signs of wet macular degeneration before symptoms appear. Similar to graph paper with straight lines intersecting at right angles, to use an Amsler Grid macular degeneration test, simply cover one eye while looking at its center black dot through one lens; look around its perimeter lines for any that appear wavy, distorted, or missing; if these changes appear contact your eye doctor immediately – sooner wet macular degeneration is diagnosed and treated, the greater chance there will be of maintaining some or all central vision!

Your doctor will perform several diagnostic tests in order to ascertain your next steps, such as an ophthalmoscopy that allows him or her to observe below your retina for signs of AMD. He or she may also check for yellowish white spots known as drusen that develop over time – although small drusen are normal as you age but numerous large ones could indicate wet AMD.

As well as using an Amsler grid, it is also wise to regularly monitor your vision and report any changes or unexpected occurrences to an eye care professional. Early identification and treatment can reduce potential damages to vision. If wet macular degeneration progresses into its more harmful dry form, less damage will result in your vision loss.

Regular use of an Amsler grid will allow you to detect changes in your vision before they become noticeable and take an unacceptable toll on quality of life. However, its accuracy may be affected by several factors including eccentric fixation, crowding effects and perceptual completion phenomena (a psychophysical phenomenon in which scotomas fill-in with visual information from elsewhere in the visual field). New technologies that address these factors may improve patient self-assessments of central visual fields.

Difficulty recognizing faces

The macula is a small area at the centre of our retina (light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye) that provides clear central vision, essential for activities such as reading and driving, as well as fine details and colors. Age-related macular degeneration occurs when the macula becomes damaged, leading to blurred or distorted central vision and impairing driving, reading and recognising faces. While peripheral (side) vision remains normal during these changes, complete blindness does not occur as peripheral vision remains normal despite these changes. There are two primary forms of macular degeneration – dry and wet; with dry degeneration occurring gradually and leading to gradual vision loss while wet macular degeneration occurs more suddenly due to abnormal blood vessels leaking fluid into the eye caused by abnormal blood vessels leaking fluid into your eye from abnormal blood vessels leaking fluid into your eye from abnormal blood vessels caused by abnormal blood vessel leakage through abnormal blood vessel leakage from abnormal blood vessels which leak fluid into your eye causing blindness rather than complete blindness due to normal peripheral (side vision remaining intact.) There are two primary types of macular degeneration: dry and wet degeneration occurring differently: gradually developing slowly while severely when caused by abnormal blood vessel abnormal blood vessel leakage from abnormal blood vessel leakage into your eye from other sources causing fluid leakage from within or from outside sources leaking fluid into it from within.

People may not recognize they have eye disease until symptoms such as wavy lines, dark spots or trouble recognizing faces appear. Therefore it’s essential to attend regular eye examinations, including checks of your macula. Also make sure that any changes in your vision, no matter how minor, are reported to an eye care professional as soon as they occur.

Your ophthalmologist will conduct a comprehensive eye exam, which may involve dilation to check for retinal damage and distance vision, using tests like Amsler grid to detect any distortion in central vision; you can stare at its pattern of straight horizontal and vertical lines with a dot in the middle to spot wavy or distorted lines. Furthermore, an optical coherence tomography (OCT) scan may be conducted to detect fluid-filled pockets beneath your retinas.

Difficulty driving at night

Night driving requires us to see clearly. If you are having difficulty, it could be an indication of eye disease such as cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma or macular degeneration which will not manifest until later but still interfere with driving abilities.

A healthy lens of the eye works like a camera, allowing light into your eye and focusing it onto your retina in the back where it converts into signals for you to see. Over time however, proteins deteriorate within your eye and form deposits known as drusen that cloud your vision causing blurry spots to form on it. In its early stage known as Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration or ARMD this process typically doesn’t affect central vision at first; eventually the drusen gradually become larger clumped together making reading or driving harder over time causing loss of fine details affecting central vision which in turn impacts reading and driving ability as a whole.

At its most severe stage, ARMD can lead to macula scarring and central blind spots called scotomas that interfere with driving, working, watching TV or recognising faces. In dry form of ARMD this process usually happens slowly over several years while rapidly in wet form.

If you are experiencing difficulty seeing at night or have noticed changes to your vision, make an appointment with an NYU Langone ophthalmologist immediately. He or she can review your medical history and run various tests, such as using an Amsler grid to screen for signs of macular degeneration; examine retina for evidence of drusen deposits; as well as assess other areas of the eye for changes in pigment and possible dark spots.

Loss of central vision

Macular degeneration occurs when light-sensitive cells in the central area of our retina known as the macula begin to die off and cause loss of central vision, with difficulty seeing fine details or driving being affected. While not painful, this condition can make living independently more challenging.

At the first sign of central vision changes, it’s wise to visit an eye doctor immediately. Your physician will perform several tests including an Amsler grid test which measures central vision using a graph with a dot in its center; healthy eyes should see straight lines but those suffering macular degeneration might see wavy or crooked lines that alert them of further examinations. Checking regularly the Amsler grid test can help detect changes to your central vision as well as alert you of further investigations that may be required.

Age and smoking can increase the risk of macular degeneration, but other conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes may also trigger it. Individuals at higher risk include those who have a family history of the condition as well as cardiovascular or vascular diseases as well as certain genetic traits like blue eyes or light skin color.

Macular degeneration usually begins as dry macular degeneration, when drusen form and the macula thins over time. But as time progresses, more serious wet macular degeneration may take hold when abnormal blood vessels grow beneath the retina and leak fluid into central vision areas causing sudden changes.