What is Uveitis?
Uveitis describes a group of inflammatory diseases that produce swelling and damage to the eye tissues. These diseases can affect your vision or lead to severe vision loss so need to be treated properly.
What you should know about Uveitis
Uveitis is swelling and damage to your eye tissues caused by inflammation. It can be difficult to work out what has caused this inflammation, but it may be caused by an infection, bruising, toxins or an autoimmune attack.
Signs and Symptoms depend on the type of Uveitis and may include:
- Eye redness
- Eye discomfort or pain
- Blurred vision
- Increased tear production
- Sensitivity to light
- Black dots in the field of vision
- Smaller than normal pupil size.
If left untreated, Uveitis can lead to vision loss, so it’s important to see your doctor if you have these symptoms.
What are the types of Uveitis?
Uveitis is usually classified by where it occurs in your eye. The different types of Uveitis include:
- Anterior Uveitis or iritis – this mainly affects the iris and is the most common type of Uveitis
- Intermediate Uveitis – this mainly affects the ciliary body (a part of the eye that controls the shape of the lens), although it may also affect the retina (a thin layer of tissue that lines the back of the eye on the inside)
- Posterior Uveitis – this affects the back of the eye
- Panuveitis – this affects the middle layer of the eye.
