Posts Tagged ‘eyesight’

It’s Important to Make Sure Your Glasses are Right For You

Friday, July 10th, 2009

Your vision is invaluble. You only get one pair of eyes, and if your sight goes it’s gone forever! So when you can’t see things at a distance quite as clearly as you used to, or reading  up close is not as simple as it used to be, then it’s time to look at getting  glasses. Prescription glasses for reading in particular are custom-made for each individual after an eye test. Having a regular eye test every two years means that you always know what glasses you should wear to correct any problems your eyes may have at that time. Once you know your prescription you can give it to any glasses store or website and get the right glasses made for you.

Proper prescription glasses can be expensive, especially if you choose designer frames, so many people consider buying “ready-made” reading glasses at a pharmacy or department store. These cheap glasses could cause further damage though, as without an optician’s help or a proper prescription you risk ending up with the wrong stength lenses enirely. Prescription glasses needn’t cost a fortune in the very competitive optical market nowadays and many online providers are offering fantastic deals on cheap glasses that are nonetheless correctly made and of the very highest optical quality.

Wearing the right prescription lenses is the only way to be sure your eyes are being properly looked after, and could help fix any more serious problems you might not even be aware of yet in a way cheap glasses never could. Not all eye problems are simply due to aging, and there could be a more serious issue that could go unrecognised without getting checked out at the optician’s. Most cheap glasses are single vision. Lenses that are specifically suited to the wearer’s particular needs, such as Bifocal or Varifocal lenses which graduate in strength, are a much more sensible buy and are only available with a prescription. At the end of the day, your vision is worth almost any price. Properly prescribed and dispensed glasses will protect and improve your vision and they needn’t cost a fortune.

Popularity: 11% [?]

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The Eyes Have It: Eye Care Product

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

The human body is graced with five senses.  Those five senses are hearing, touching, smelling,  tasting and seeing.  In regards to the importance of these five senses, arguments could be made as to why one would think that one sense is more important.

Specifically, one could argue that seeing is absolutely critical.  Those arguments could assert that seeing could make up for the loss of other senses.  For example, if a person could not hear they could read lips or if a person could not taste they could at least see the food that they are eating.

Therefore, it is important to take care of one’s eyesight.  This commitment could be accomplished through regular eye exams and a host of eye car products.

Eye Care Product ForRegular Eye Exams

There are many quality eye care products that are available to the consumer on the market today.  However, as with all things, prevention is the best way to avoid major illnesses in one’s life.  This is certainly true when it comes to eye care.

Therefore, it is important to have regular eye exams.  This should be accomplished by not only using an optometrist to make sure that any corrective measures are taken to secure maximum eyesight, but also consulting with an ophthalmologist.An optometrist helps an individual with basic eye treatments and provide the individual with corrective lenses for good sightedness. 

Whereas, an ophthalmologist, is a doctor who attends to individuals who have the potential or are diagnosed with diseases of the eye.  Some of those diseases that affect an individual’s vision could be diabetes or macular degeneration.

Also, when it comes to regular eye exams it is important that individuals have their eyes tested if there is a history of vision problems in the family or if there is a family history of diabetes.  Additionally, it is highly recommended that individuals ranging from the age of 3 to 19 have their eyes examined once every two years.  As these individuals age it is equally important that regular eye exams are conducted. 

Also, a good rule of thumb is when the individual reaches age 40 they should have an eye exam accomplished.  This will allow that particular eye exam to be the baseline for future examinations and possibilities of degenerative eye illnesses.

Utilizing Eye Care Products

When utilizing eye care products it is important that the best eye care products are purchased.  For example some eye care products may indicate that they will help to reduce the possibilities of an individual having a particular eye disease.  Therefore, it is important to conduct research on those claims and whether there is any merit in taking these supplements.

In addition, when considering eye care products it is important that any products used on or near the eye should be tested on the skin.  This is important to make sure that there is no sensitivity or possible allergic reactions to the product that may adversely affect the eye.

Therefore, it is important that the individual take care of their precious vision.This can be fulfilled by following the various safety measures which prevent your eyes from getting damaged.Going through the safety measures while operating any machinery or using chemical or putting anything near the eye can save your eyes from injury.  This can be accomplished by using safety glasses or protecting one’s eye sight from the harmful rays of the sun.

Popularity: 14% [?]

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Could lens implants make glasses a thing of the past?

Saturday, April 18th, 2009

It may sound like science fiction but more and more people are opting to bin their reading glasses in favour of having artificial plastic lens implants inserted into their eyes instead. The procedure is becoming increasingly popular, particularly amongst middle aged people who want to avoid the possible onset of presbyopia, or the deterioration of sight related to age. It almost sounds too good to be true, surely if it works it could be the end to all our worries about our eyesight?

The idea of having your natural lenses removed from your eyes and replaced with a small piece of plastic might not be one for the squeamish, but in fact the procedure does work surprisingly well. The number of patients opting for the surgery has doubled since 2004, with most people reporting that the implants have made a huge difference to their sight, often meaning they no longer need to wear their prescription glasses at all.

So how do the lenses work? Well, the natural lenses in the eye stiffen with age, losing their ability to bend and focus properly. The implant procedure removes the natural lens from the eye and replaces it with an Intraocular lens, which uses the muscles of the eye to mimic the natural lens movements and enhance the eye’s optical abilities. The procedure takes less than 30 minutes – the patient is given a local anaesthetic and then a small incision is made to remove the old lens and insert the new one in its place.

Lens implants as a preventative measure are not currently available on the NHS and the private procedure is not cheap, usually costing somewhere between £2,500 and £3,000 per eye. But when you think about it, being able to see both near and far without being dependant on glasses, escape from the discomfort of wearing them, or even being able to wear stylish designer sunglasses without having to worry about buying prescription lenses could actually be worth it!

Popularity: 16% [?]

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Computer games could help to improve eyesight

Friday, April 17th, 2009

After years of being told that video games are bad for your health and especially your eyes, a new study has proved that in fact playing some games may actually help improve your vision, and could even prevent you from needing glasses in the future. The study, conducted by the University of Rochester, demonstrates that regularly playing certain games can improve a person’s contrast sensitivity function, or their ability to distinguish between different shades of grey. But does that really mean the game has actually improved your eyesight?

Shades of grey might not sound particularly ground-breaking, but contrast sensitivity is one of the most easily damaged functions of the human eye. People who suffer from low contrast sensitivity find it harder to see at night or to pick out small details like spots on clothing, and often the only way to treat the problem is with increasing strength prescription glasses or eye surgery. Some now believe that computer games could be used to train the eyes to develop these skills, and that it’s possible the same method could even be used to treat people who suffer from Amblyopia or ‘lazy eye’, a condition that affects the brain’s ability to correctly register signals from one eye.

But it’s not all video games that are thought to be beneficial in this way. The study compared different types of computer games by testing young adults who did not normally play games before and after a period of playing them regularly. The results suggested that subjects who played first-person shooter or action games like Call of Duty showed a 43 per cent improvement on average, whereas those who played non-action games such as The Sims 2 showed hardly any.

So if gaming could help us avoid eye problems should we all be rushing out to buy an XBOX with as many action games as we can find to ensure that our designer sunglasses will remain our only visual aids far into our future? Well, unfortunately no. For a start the study stresses that not all action games will work, which means in other words, most of them probably won’t. Not to mention the fact that although these games may help develop some areas of your eyesight, it’s still not a great idea to be sitting in front of a screen for long periods of time, or to allow gaming to replace other activities that are necessary to staying fit and healthy. In theory it’s certainly a nice idea, but it’s important not to forget that it’s just as possible that video games could well be harmful in other ways.

Popularity: 16% [?]

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Healthy Eyes: Five Helpful Tips for Glasses Wearers

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

So many of us these days have vision problems are need to wear glasses or corrective lenses. A recent study showed that as much as half of the population of the US is short sighted. I’m sure I certainly see a lot more kids wearing glasses at school these days than there were when I was growing up. Given all of this it is more and more important to look after your eyes and make sure there’s no way your lifestyle could be making your vision worse. So I thought I’d share my top 5 tips to keep your eyes healthy:

Get your vision checked regularly.

It is advisable to schedule an appointment with your optician at least once every 12 months as some vision problems can often go unnoticed until it is too late. Getting regular eye tests can prevent the need for costly corrective treatments in the future so make sure you always follow your optician’s advice - if they say you need prescription glasses, start wearing them straight away.

If you need glasses, make sure you wear them!

It doesn’t matter if you think they look good or not, if your optician has told you that you need glasses then you need to be wearing them. Not wearing your glasses can damage your eyes further and will only mean that you will need a stronger prescription later. If you don’t like the way they look then shop around, there are hundreds of different frames available and you’re sure to be able to find something that will suit you.

Keep a healthy diet for your eyes

Research has shown that certain vitamins and nutrients are good for your eyesight, so making sure that your diet contains plenty of vitamins A, C and E, folic acid, selenium and zinc could help prevent future vision problems. If your glasses prescription is very low (-0.25) it’s possible that your vision problems could even be corrected by switching to a diet rich in these nutrients.

Protect your eyes in summer

It sounds really obvious to say that UV rays can cause severe damage to your eyes, yet hundreds of people still allow this to happen every year. Sunglasses are an absolute must for going out in the sun, whether you have vision problems or not. With an endless range of designer sunglasses on the market, it’s easy to find a pair that you like and that will give you the all-important protection you need.

Give ‘em regular breaks!

If you spend a lot of time at your computer throughout the day, it’s important that you give your eyes regular breaks. Just closing your eyes or focusing on an object in the distance for 10 seconds at least once an hour can make a huge difference and helps to prevent headaches and vision problems associated with prolonged use of a screen. Remember it’s not just work that causes these problems, the same applies to watching TV and playing computer games too!

Popularity: 13% [?]

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What Is Open Angle Glaucoma?

Friday, March 13th, 2009

eye disease

If you are serious about the health of your eyes, then you should make sure that you see your optical doctor on a regular basis. Making sure that you have regular optical exam, for example your yearly exam for glaucoma, will go a long way towards insuring that you keep your vision. Open angle glaucoma affects more than 80 percent of the people that contract glaucoma. Glaucoma is an eye disease that can be cured if found in the early stages.

There are other types of glaucoma but open angle is the one that affects the eyesight of most people. The sad fact is that there are more than 3 million Americans who have glaucoma but are not aware of it yet, based on statistical research. Glaucoma works by damaging the optic nerve through pressure in the eye or decreasing the blood supply to the optic nerve. If it is caught early enough by scheduling eye exams, then glaucoma can be arrested, and a person’s vision can be saved. However, any damage that glaucoma has caused up to that point is not fixable. The people who are most at risk of contracting glaucoma are black people, people over 40, or anyone that has a history of glaucoma in their family.

Open angle glaucoma is one of the most common forms of glaucoma and also one of the most treatable. The problem with glaucoma is that there are generally no symptoms other than a gradual loss of vision. Unfortunately, this loss of vision is many times not obvious to the person who has contracted glaucoma. The reason for this is the other eye will generally pick up the slack for the eye that is being affected by glaucoma. If both eyes happen to have glaucoma, then they’re both working in conjunction with each other and it is harder to be aware that there is any loss of sight. This type of glaucoma starts by affecting the peripheral vision. If left untreated it will eventually cause a person to have something called tunnel vision, which means they will not be able to see anything out of the sides of their eyes.

Open angle glaucoma is the most common form of glaucoma. Glaucoma is at once the most treatable disease of the eyes, as well as the one that causes the most cases of blindness. This is a sad fact that does not have to continue. If people make sure that they have regular eye exams, then glaucoma would not be able to do all of the damage that it does.

Popularity: 22% [?]

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