A Bit of Foresight Will Help Preserve Your Sight!

Something that we work hard to inform our patients about is the importance of preventative eye care. As Optometrists, we carry a certain amount of bias on the subject because of what we do and see (pun intended) every day. However, bias aside, there are a lot of reasons to have your ocular health top of mind.

• You only have one set of eyes – While it’s possible to lead a fulfilling and independent life without vision, why go through that experience if you don’t have to? Prevention goes a long way.
• Eyesight lost due to disease or physical damage generally cannot be restored – There are some exceptions to this (such as cataracts, which can be removed via cataract removal surgery), though these exceptions are far from the rule.
• Protecting your eyes is often as simple as wearing a pair of glasses or goggles – How frustrating would it be to lose sight in one or both eyes for something that was completely preventable?

With the above in mind, we’ve prepared a small list of ways you can protect your eyes without having to impair your quality of life.

Safety Goggles: A Must When Working Outdoors

One of the most frustrating things we see as doctors are patients with chemical burns or foreign bodies embedded in their eyes. This type of injury can be minor, or it can be major- it’s often the luck of the draw as to which way it will go.

So why do we find it frustrating? In most cases, a pair of safety goggles could have completely prevented the injury. The real kicker is, as frustrating as we find it, imagine having to come to terms with losing visual acuity because of a completely preventable reason.

Working on the car? Trimming the hedges? Painting the fence? Throw on a pair of safety goggles- your eyes will thank you!

Sunglasses Are About More Than Just Squinting

A good pair of sunglasses will enhance your vision, sharpen your style, and help keep your vision on point.

The big ball of fire anchored in space – the one that the Earth derives its energy and sustenance from – also emits something particularly harmful to our eyes. UV light. We’ve talked about UV before- check out our other posts on the subject:

• Protecting Your Eyes from UV Light
• Why The UV Rating of Your Sunglasses is Important

UV light is invisible, harmful to vision, and often overlooked. Don’t be a UV-newbie, throw on a pair of sunglasses when you’re outside!

Have Your Eyes Examined

We can’t stress this enough! An annual eye exam is all most people need to have clear, unbiased perspective on the state of their eye health. An eye exam is quick – generally taking under an hour – and provides you the peace of mind knowing that any issues that are found can be rectified easily.

Almost all eye diseases respond best when caught and treated early, and most eye diseases don’t display obvious symptoms during their initial development. In other words: with many diseases, by the time you notice a change to your vision, permanent vision loss has already occurred.