A few years ago, my dear maternal grandmother visited an optometrist. After thoroughly examining my grandmother’s eyes, this medical professional informed her that she had cataracts in both of them. Concerned, my grandmother immediately made an appointment with a surgeon. The two surgeries to remove the cataracts from my grandmother’s eyes were successful. Scheduling annual eye exams is crucial. During these appointments, your optometrist will check for potentially harmful conditions such as cataracts, glaucoma, retinal detachment, nearsightedness, and farsightedness. On this blog, I hope you will discover the most important reasons you should visit your eye doctor every year. Enjoy!
-
Understanding Astigmatism and How an Eye Doctor Addresses It 11 January 2024
-
Treating Your Cataracts 15 November 2022
-
Common Eye Problems Diabetic People Experience 1 June 2022
The Importance of Scheduling Annual, Eye Exams
How To Protect Your Eyesight
Stella Harvey
Many adults have some sort of eye condition that can impact their vision, and more individuals will suffer from vision loss as they age. Some of the most common causes of vision problems and vision loss are related to age, including cataracts, macular degeneration, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy. The good news is that there are a few things you can do to help reduce your overall risks of developing these age-related issues and protect your eyesight.
Lead a Healthy Lifestyle
While eating healthy and staying active can help you remain fit, it can also help protect your eyes. You should maintain a regular exercise regimen and ensure your diet contains dark leafy greens and fruits. You should also avoid unhealthy habits, such as smoking. Smoking significantly increases your risk of vision reduction conditions.
Visit Your Eye Doctor Regularly
There are certain chronic conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, that can result in serious vision issues if they are not treated. Diabetes, specifically, has been associated with macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. High blood pressure increases the risk of eye strokes. Unfortunately, this all increases the risk of blindness. Therefore, it is imperative that you make routine checkups with your eye doctor a priority. The sooner that a doctor can discover a chronic condition, the sooner a treatment plan can be developed.
Keep an Eye Out for Vision Changes
As a general rule, changes in your vision are gradual, and because of this, it can be hard to notice changes in your eyesight. In the event that you do notice a change, though, it is important to schedule an appointment with your eye doctor immediately. Certain changes in your vision, such as red eyes, swelling, eye pain, flashes of light, or increased floaters, require an immediate visit with your eye doctor.
Protect Your Eyes From the Sun
When it comes to protecting your eyes from the harmful UV rays produced by the sun, you may think that the closest and cheapest pair of sunglasses that you can find will work. However, this is not true. Instead, you must look closely at the sunglasses you are wearing. The sunglasses that you wear must be designed to block 100 percent of all UV-A and UV-B rays to ensure you are getting full protection from the sun.
While there are many ways to protect your eyesight, the aforementioned is a great place to start. For more information or to schedule an eye exam, contact an eye clinic like Northwest Ophthalmology near you.
Share