Insight Into Eyesight:
Ensuring Your Vision For A Better Future

Miriam Album, OPTICS MIRIAM

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The old adage says that you don't appreciate something until it is gone. When it comes to good eye sight, this is very much the case.

 By taking regular care of your eyes you can really contribute to your quality of life. In the short term it can be through enjoying "higher resolution" vision, preventing headaches or safer driving. In the long term it can help with more serious declines in vision or by detecting other health conditions early on and thereby preventing serious issues.

 In my examinations, I don't just determine your prescription for glasses or contact lenses. I also check your eyes for prevalent eye diseases, examine how your eyes work together and assess your eyes as a guide to your overall health.

 Do You Need to Have Your Eyes Examined?

 Eye examinations are a very important part of general health maintenance for everyone. Adults should have their eyes tested at least once every two years to keep their prescriptions current and to check for early signs of disease. As previously mentioned, as we get older our vison naturally deteriorates so it is important to catch this early.

 Vision tests for children are also very important and are required about once a year. They help to ensure normal visual development and confirm that children have the visual acuity and vision skills required for school work and other activities.

 Children will often not complain about vision problems because they are not always aware of what "normal" vision looks like. If your child is struggling at school, have their eyes checked – it may simply be due to an undetected learning-related vision problem.

 What Should the Optometrist Check?

The optometrist should check the health of the eyes for eye diseases and general health problems, as well as for a prescription. The following and more will be assessed:

*The prescription: long-sightedness, short-sightedness, and astigmatism – these can be corrected if necessary with glasses or contact lenses;

*Detection of Lazy Eye (amblyopia);

*Performance of the eyes working together; 

*Eye diseases: Optometrists who test the health of the eye can detect early signs of some diseases by looking at the retina and cornea. These conditions include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and more;

*Cataracts and Age-Related Macula Degeneration (AMD);

*Near vision problems due to the natural age-related decline in the focusing ability of the eye (presbyopia).

 Today, glasses can contribute not only to your vision, but also to your image and self-confidence as well as often being a fashion statement, so a visit to the optometrist can have both physical and emotional benefits!

 I recommend taking a proactive approach to preserving healthy vison. Test your eyes regularly so that you can see more clearly, learn more efficiently and preserve your vision for life.