How Melanoma Of The Eye Is Diagnosed

Melanoma of the eye is cancer that can cause you to lose an eye or even both eyes, which would result in the loss of your vision. Your eye or eyes would be replaced with a glass eye, which would remove the cancerous tumor to prevent it from spreading. In order to be sure that melanoma of the eye is caught before it spreads, you want to know some of the symptoms and how it is diagnosed. This is going to ensure that you are receiving treatment when needed. Here's how melanoma is diagnosed:

Look for the Symptoms:

The symptoms of melanoma of the eye are the first warning sign that should tell you to visit your optician. Symptoms include blurry vision, a growing dark spot on the color of your eye, bulging of the eye, and abnormal movement of the eye in the socket. If any of these signs are noticed, you must be sure to visit your optician for proper diagnoses. Sometimes these symptoms could be the cause of something other than melanoma, so it is important to be sure. 

An Eye Exam:

When you visit your optician after noticing these symptoms, he or she will provide you with an eye exam to determine whether or not it is truly the cause of melanoma of the eye. Your optician is going to examine the movement of your eyes and also the enlargement of any blood vessels, which is a sign of a tumor in the eye. Your optician may have to use special tools, as well, such as an ophthalmoscope, which will magnify the eye in order for the optician to better examine it. After this exam, your optician will usually be able to diagnose whether or not you have melanoma of the eye. 

An Imaging Test:

Imaging tests are usually used once the melanoma of the eye has been diagnosed in order to determine whether or not treatment methods are working. However, they may also be used to determine where the tumor is specifically. These imaging tests are going to help the optician take a look inside of your body to determine where the tumor is and whether or not it has spread. One image test that may be used is an ultrasound, for example.

A Biopsy:

During the process of diagnosis, a biopsy may need to be done, which is where a small part of the tumor is removed and looked at to determine whether or not it is truly cancerous. Sometimes, tumors can be noncancerous, meaning that they will be easy to remove since they won't be aggressively trying to spread through the body. However, imaging tests are usually going to be able to determine whether or not a tumor is cancerous before a biopsy is even needed. 

Knowing how the process of diagnosing melanoma of the eye is done, you can be sure that you take the proper steps once you have noticed any of the symptoms listed above. Be sure that you continue to receive regular eye exams to be sure that all problems with your eyes can be caught early enough to treat before they become severe.

To learn more, contact an optician like Granville Mall Optical. 

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