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The Importance of Preventative Eye Care

Among the many things that we tend to ignore or overlook (pardon the pun), nothing ranks higher than our sight. The importance of preventative eye care cannot be overstated, and yet most of us wait for a problem before visiting an optometrist.

We will  give you the rundown on why preventative eye care is so important, and then you can decide whether or not to make it a priority. Sound good? Let’s go!

Silent Symptoms

Many eye diseases do not reveal symptoms until the condition has substantially progressed. Diabetics, for example, are all at risk of developing diabetic retinopathy, an illness which will show virtually no symptoms until their vision has become severely threatened.

Similarly, Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) presents very few early symptoms, but then hits you hard with blurred vision, dark patches in your eyesight or straight lines which appear distorted. What do these illnesses have in common?

The fact that a professional eye exam will spot them extremely early.

This preventative care could drastically reduce any vision impairment normally caused by the disease. One study involving 11,500 people found that 35% did not seek eyecare because they felt they didn’t need it. You may not, but it’s definitely worth checking.

Vision is the most valuable of the senses; that’s pretty much undisputed. The trouble is that as much as science has made incredible advancements in the last few decades, eye replacements are very far from reality.

Since our eyes cannot be replaced, anything other than temporary vision loss is going to stay lost. Permanently. By having your eyes checked regularly, the odds of avoiding any serious vision impairment vastly improve. However, preventative care goes beyond simply getting tests; here’s what else you can do:

  • Maintain a healthy, balanced diet all-year-round.
  • Acknowledge any vision-based symptoms and see a specialist.
  • Exercise regularly, even if it’s only a moderate walk.
  • Wear sunglasses if you’ll be exposed to long bouts of bright sunshine. The value in protecting your eyes from UV cannot be measured.
  • Quit smoking.

Be Sensible

When it comes to injuries to the eye, there’s an element of poor luck involved. Preventative treatment extends to acts of sensibility like wearing appropriate headgear in contact sports, or protective goggles when working with machinery.

Of course, if you notice any unusual symptoms which affect your vision, get in touch with us immediately so we can get you in for an exam. More Americans than ever are developing vision impairments as they age, and the importance of preventative eyecare in minimizing, or completely side-stepping these conditions is overwhelming.

So what do you think? Time to book an eye exam?

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