Our eyes are spectacularly precious and delicate things and they need to be cared for attentively over the course of our lives. In fact, they’re so complex that simply seeing what we see on a day-to-day basis requires about half of the human brain’s operational force . Sight is something that we take for granted, but losing it can have truly profound implications.
Losing your sight can be linked to emotions tantamount to grief; a bereavement which comes hand in hand with a whole spectrum of feelings that the sufferer will have to come to terms with . However, most health issues in relation to the eyes are usually easy to treat. The trick is to treat them as early as possible.
These complications regularly rear their ugly head as people get older, so it’s very important to keep close attention on your eye health as you age. By simply searching for ‘eye care near me’ and heading to your local opticians, you could save yourself from the devastating blow of losing your sight. To provide you with a bit more information, we’ve compiled an article on how your eyes change over time and how to adjust your eye care accordingly.
Opticians Can Help You Discover Conditions Before They Get Serious
Just like any other area of our body, ageing can deteriorate the eye muscles and leave you with health conditions. Some of these conditions can eventually lead to blindness, so it’s imperative to tackle them before they become unruly.
With positive eye care and regular trips to the opticians, you can often limit the impact of this natural deterioration. However, sometimes it can be difficult to avoid some conditions. Below we’ve listed a few of these conditions, how to spot them early and how to treat them.
Age-related Macular Degeneration
Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is an eye disease that begins to slowly erode vision in the centre of your sight, which is needed for daily tasks like driving or reading. The disease doesn’t cause complete blindness, however, it can dramatically disrupt how you get on with your day to day life and will only get worse without treatment.
AMD usually strikes first in people who are aged between 40 and 50 and the first symptom is a blurred or distorted area in the centre of vision. Without treatment, this can lead to a severe loss of sight in the centre of your vision. So, if you notice this, or you notice that objects look smaller than they usually do, or straight lines seem crooked, then you should visit the opticians as soon as possible.
Once diagnosed with either dry or wet AMD, you’ll receive treatments to help your eyes heal. Dry AMD has no cure, but you can be provided with visual aids to assist your vision. Wet AMD may require regular eye injections to halt the progression of the disease.
Cataracts
You may already know what cataracts are, as they are one of the most common eye conditions to impact people’s lives. Cataracts is the condition defined by the clouding of your eye lens and they generally develop as we get older.
If you’re in your 50s or 60s and you’ve noticed that your vision has become blurred or misty, you find lights too bright or you find that colours seem faded, then you may have cataracts. To test this condition, the optician will perform a series of tests to assess your eyes and then send you to a specialist if they suspect you have the condition.
In the early stages cataracts can be treated with stronger glasses and using brighter lamps, however, they will get worse over time. When this happens, you may need to have the lens removed with a surgical operation.
Diabetic Eye Disease
Diabetic eye disease, or diabetic retinopathy, is a development of diabetes that attacks the retina of the eye and can eventually lead to blindness. However, the threat of blindness takes years to develop and there are plenty of ways to prevent that end result. Firstly, if you have diabetes, it's very important to always control your blood sugar levels properly. Secondly, as a diabetic, you will be offered annual screenings to check your eyes and ensure any issues are treated early on.
If you have a consistently high blood sugar level, you tend to have high blood pressure and cholesterol or you’ve been dealing with diabetes for a very long period of time then your eyes may be more at risk. If you notice that you have a very sudden loss of vision, patchy vision or there is a pain in your eyes, then you should seek attention from your optician straight away.
If the condition becomes advanced, then you may need to have laser treatment, eye injections or surgery on your eyes to remove scar tissue from the eyes.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a common and hereditary eye condition that attacks the optic nerve which joins the eye and the brain. Pressure built up by fluid in the eye damages the nerve and can cause blindness if not treated. The condition usually affects adults in their 70s and 80s and develops slowly over a number of years. In fact, it’s usually only ever picked up during a routine eye test, which means it’s even more important to have these done regularly.
The regular symptoms include generally blurred vision around the edges of your sight and rainbow colours when looking at lights. If you have any of these symptoms, it’s better to be safe than sorry and have a check done before it becomes untreatable.
It’s advised to have an eye test once every two years and, during this test, the eye care professional should be able to pick up any signs of the condition and then provide treatment. Treatment includes eye drops to reduce the pressure in your eyes but can extend to laser treatment or surgery in more extreme circumstances.
The Type of Eye Wear Will Change as You Age and Regular Eye Tests Become Even More Important
As you get older, your eyes will deteriorate and you’ll have to continue getting stronger and stronger prescriptions to match the eye’s deterioration. This means that the type of lenses you wear will change and you’ll have to continue to visit the optician to get an accurate analysis. Having a regular check-up is important as wearing the wrong prescription can damage your eyes further and lead to a more drastic deterioration.
To ensure that you protect your eyes from further damage, it’s important to get checked out regularly and take the advice of your optician seriously. Although most conditions can be treated, this is usually only the case when discovered early. With that in mind, keep vigilant about your eye health in your later years and always be tuned in to any sudden or gradual changes to your vision.
Book an Appointment Today in Berkhamsted For Your High-Quality Eye Care
If you are concerned about the health of your eyes as you grow older, then get in touch with us at David Paul Opticians and we’d be more than happy to book you in for an appointment. As well as providing high-standard, professional eye care in Berkhamsted, we also supply fashionable high-quality glasses and contact lenses.
If you’re looking for opticians near me in Berkhamsted that can provide you with the prescription glasses you need as well as professional advice to ensure your eyes stay healthy, look no further.
We can help you to discover any eye conditions early on to ensure that you don’t lose your vision or develop any further health problems. Most conditions can be treated effectively if caught early on, so don’t hesitate to get in touch.
To find out more, contact us today. You can find us at David Paul Opticians, 236 High Street, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, HP4 1AG, call us on 01442 879 303 or email us at info@davidpaul.co.uk.