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With COVID being at the forefront of health concerns over the past months, other health issues have sometimes taken a back seat. Regular check-ups have been forgotten or ignored, or people have expressed anxiety about visiting doctors or hospitals for fear of becoming infected with COVID. Monitoring of chronic health conditions has often been neglected, as has regular checking of visual health. Being in lockdown has placed additional demands on our eyes as we spend more time on digital devices for work, relaxation and social contact, making it more important for us to check our eyes. Under normal circumstances, it is important to have regular eye examinations and, if necessary, to replace our glasses, but recent months have been anything but normal! Generally, we should have a comprehensive eye examination annually or as often as recommended by our optometrist. How often do we need to change or replace our glasses? Various factors need to be taken into account to determine this. As we age, so do our eyes. The changes to our vision may be subtle and barely noticeable, but we will become aware of the signs over time. Your clarity of vision may not be as sharp as before or you may be experiencing double vision, headaches or visual discomfort after reading or working on the computer. Squinting in order to focus more clearly often indicates an incorrect prescription. The feeling of relief after removing your glasses is a tell-tale sign of eye strain, either as a result of the eyes working overtime or needing to work harder to compensate for the wrong prescription. Bright, harsh light can be taxing on the eyes and you may find that you are needing to wear sunglasses more often. If one eye has a stronger prescription than the other and the prescription has changed even slightly, you may feel nauseous, dizzy or experience double vision. With constant wearing of glasses, it is inevitable that they will begin to show signs of wear and tear which will negatively impact your vision. Scratches on the lenses or lens coatings which are beginning to deteriorate will distort the lenses, reducing their clarity and optimal functioning. If your glasses are difficult to clean properly, this may indicate that the lenses need replacing. To ensure that sunglasses are providing effective protection against the harmful UV rays of the sun, they should be changed if they are damaged, misaligned or the coatings are breaking down. |
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Technology advances rapidly and new innovations are constantly being developed to improve and enhance vision. With new technology, it is possible for you to obtain glasses suited specifically to meet your personal vision needs, depending on your occupation and lifestyle. Children, too, need to have their eyes and glasses checked regularly. As children grow, so do their eyes, particularly when they have growth spurts at certain stages, typically during early adolescence. In late teens and early adulthood, as the eyes become fully developed, vision stabilises and changes in the prescription tend to occur less frequently and more gradually. It may be difficult for a child to articulate that they cannot see clearly because they do not know they see the world differently from others. As a parent, you may notice behaviours that alert you to possible problems with your child's eyes and vision. These include sitting too close to the television, holding a book very close to their face while reading, losing their place frequently or using a finger to follow the words while reading, squinting, tilting the head, rubbing their eyes, closing one eye to focus and perform tasks better, complaining of headaches or tired eyes or avoiding tasks that have visual demands. Even if you are not aware of vision changes and your glasses seem to be as effective as always, they may require small adjustments that only a comprehensive eye examination can reveal. It is not just about vision correction, but other potential problems can be detected before they have a chance to develop into something more serious. Don't neglect regular visits to your optometrist! |
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