Frequently Asked Questions

Age-related Macular Degeneration

Symptoms & Detection

• What are the symptoms?
• How is ARMD detected?

What are the symptoms?

For dry ARMD: The most common early sign is blurred vision. As fewer cells in the macula are able to function, details of object will become less clear, for example, faces or words in a book. Sometimes this blurred vision will go away in brighter light. If the loss of these light-sensing cells becomes great, people may see a small--but increasing--blind spot in the middle of their field of vision.

For wet ARMD: The classic early symptom is that straight lines appear crooked or wavy. This happens when fluid from the leaking blood vessels gathers and lifts the macula. As the disease advances a patient’s central vision is more blurry and distorted.

How is ARMD detected?

Most often it is found during a dilated eye exam if you are over age 60 and have had recent changes in your central vision. To look for signs of the disease, Dr. Rudser will use eye drops to dilate (or enlarge) your pupils. Dilating the pupils allows Dr. Rudser to view the back of the eye better, which is where the macula is located.

Visual perception photos above of ocular disease come from the NIH website.