VISION CARE / MAINTAINING GOOD EYESIGHT
Good eyesight plays an important role in your mobility and the enjoyment of life, so it’s important to follow these basic steps to keep your eyes seeing clearly:
• Visit your eye Doctor: You should visit your eye doctor for an eye exam once every year to maintain good eyesight. See your ophthalmologist if you experience eye infections or symptoms of disease like loss of or blurred vision, light flashes, eye pain, redness, itching, swelling, and irritation around the eye or eyelid. If you have health problems such as diabetes, you may need to visit your eye doctor more frequently to detect any complications.
• Practice disease prevention: Disease of the eye is the number one cause of blindness. Most diseases that cause blindness, like glaucoma and diabetes, can be treated or their progression slowed down with the proper diagnosis and management. While there is no cure for some eye conditions, there have been major medical advances for an age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and cataracts. By visiting your eye doctor on a regular basis, you can catch any eye problems in their early stage when they are easier to treat.
• Protect your eyes from the sun’s harmful rays: Constant exposure to ultraviolet light can damage your eyes. Too much exposure increases pigmentation in the eye, causing a discoloration known as “brown” or “sunshine” cataracts. Eye disease such as macular degeneration has been linked to UV exposure.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAVE 20/20 VISION?
20/20 vision describes visual acuity, or the sharpness of vision at 20 feet from an object. Having 20/60 vision means that you must be at 20 feet to see what a person with normal vision can see at 60 feet.
WHAT DOES VISUAL ACUITY MEAN?
Visual acuity, also called central vision, is the ability to distinguish details and shapes of objects. It does not include depth perception, peripheral vision, or color blindness.
WHAT OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE TO CORRECT IMPAIRED VISION?"
• Eyeglasses, perhaps the most traditional form of vision correction. Eyeglasses improve vision by bending light.
• Contact Lenses are more suitable for people with an active lifestyle. They work the same way as eyeglasses, but stay in place better during physical activities.
• Corrective Surgery improves sight by changing the refractive or light bending, properties of the eye.