The eyes, they say, are the window to the soul. But too many of us take having good eyesight for granted, little realising that we need to have regular eyesight checks to make sure that our peepers remain in tip top condition.
As boring and mundane as attending frequent checks at the opticians is, the implications of ignoring our eyes is quite serious. A study by Optegra Eye Health Care, of 2,000 people, found that incredibly, half of all patients who are seen for the first time by an optometrist do in fact need some sort of vision correction.
A tough reality for the one in six people that don’t bother to attend appointments, could see them have to deal with serious eye illnesses, which started off as relatively minor eye symptoms. Conditions such as cataracts – treatable if diagnosed – are being detected late and other conditions which can potentially cause blindness if left untreated are age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma.
So, what are the reasons that people give for not going for their eye checks? Up to 24 per cent of people say they don’t go for eye tests because they don’t like the idea of wearing glasses, while a quarter think wearing glasses will make their eyesight worse!
A spokesperson for Optegra Eye Health care said:
“It is vital for everyone to have regular eye checks, even if they suspect nothing is wrong with their eye sight. By giving up just 20-30 minutes of your time once every two years, you can potentially save your vision.”
“Every day 100 people in the UK start to lose their sight and two million people live with significant sight loss. Vision is such a precious sense, a simple, regular eye test can prevent eye diseases and future worry, missing out simply isn’t worth the risk.”
Here are Top 5 ways to protect your eye health:
- Regular eye tests
- Wear sunglasses for UV protection
- Do not smoke
- Safe use of contact lenses
- Protect eyes with safety glasses
Image credit: www.123rf.com.
