David S. Curragh is an ophthalmologist based at Port Road in Adelaide, SA. He looks after people who have eye and eyelid problems, as well as some issues that link the eyes with nearby areas like the sinuses, tear ducts, and the thyroid.
In day-to-day care, this can include things like blocked tear ducts and ongoing tear drainage problems. Sometimes the eyelids sit the wrong way, or they droop, making it harder to keep your eyes open comfortably. He also sees people with astigmatism and other vision changes that affect how clearly you can see.
Over time, eye symptoms can come with wider body health changes too. For example, Graves disease and thyroid eye disease can cause eye discomfort, swelling around the eyes, and changes in how the eyes move. At times, inflammation in the eye like uveitis can be part of what people notice, along with pain, redness, and blurred vision.
There are also times when an eye problem needs careful checks to rule out growths or other serious causes. Conditions that may be assessed include lacrimal gland tumours and eye area skin cancers such as basal cell skin cancer. Other problems in nearby spaces can show up as eye symptoms as well, so evaluations may include things like sinus cancer, sinusitis, and ethmoiditis.
Some patients come in after sudden vision changes. Retinal artery occlusion is one example of an emergency-like situation where speed matters. There are also conditions linked to pressure inside the head, such as pseudotumor cerebri syndrome and increased intracranial pressure, which can affect sight and cause headaches. In other cases, sarcoidosis can involve the eyes, leading to longer-lasting irritation or inflammation.
David also works with patients who have specific eye infections or inflammation linked to other body issues, including conditions like dacryoadenitis and Kaposi sarcoma when it involves the eye area. Some less common conditions, such as neuroretinitis and certain neurotoxicity syndromes, can also be part of his work.
Care may include procedures and look-ins to help get answers, such as endoscopy when it’s relevant to the nose or sinus area. The goal is to figure out what’s going on, explain it in plain language, and help people get the right treatment plan for their situation.
