Why is eye health important?

Good eye health is vital for maintaining a high-quality standard of life. Most people take for granted how important their eyes are for learning, navigating the world around us and completing simple day to day tasks such as reading, driving and cooking. In this day and age it should not be accepted that poor vision is a consequence of ageing. There are many advanced ways of testing for and treating eye conditions so that you can continue living life to the fullest way into your later years.

High Achieving

Your eyesight does not only affect what you see but also what you feel. Healthy vision is proven to increase performance in both school and work, in turn boosting your confidence and mood. A large proportion of children are visual learners, so limiting their vision could be holding back those who would otherwise be high-achievers in the class.

Putting Yourself in Danger

Poor eyesight not only puts yourself but others at danger. By neglecting regular eye tests you may be unaware that you need a prescription, or if you already have one, that your prescription may need to be altered due to changes in your sight. Poor vision can lead to accidents happening in the most unexpected of ways, such as stepping off the curb of a pavement too early when there is busy traffic or miscalculating the shape and number of stairs causing you to trip or fall. The DVLA requires that you have a sight test before driving, however your prescription is likely to change over the years. This could put you and other drivers at risk of a collision if you fail to regularly monitor any changes to your vision.

Serious Eye Conditions

There are numerous negative effects to not caring for your eyes. Eye strain can lead to fatigue, headaches and general discomfort, especially when trying to sleep. This can then escalate to cause problems in other areas of your life. There are also many much more serious eye conditions that can lead to total and permanent blindness such as macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. It’s easy to neglect your eye because you don’t often notice any signs when these conditions are present. However, visiting your local optician for a regular eye exam helps to detect eye conditions in their early stages before symptoms appear which could ultimately save your sight completely.

Other Health Conditions

A routine eye exam can also detect other serious health conditions that are not limited to just the eye such as high cholesterol, autoimmune disorder, high blood pressure and even tumours. These finding could be potentially life-saving, so it’s not worth the risk of putting off your eye test just to save the hassle. A routine eye exam typically takes 30-40 minutes. So what are you waiting for?