May – Healthy Vision Month

May is health vision month. A lot of people who know me and my incurable eye disease may wonder why I bother to promote eye health and urge people to go to the opticians for regular check-ups. The reason I do this is because about 75 to 80% of eye problems picked up by opticians are either curable or manageable with the correct and prompt treatment.

Wet Age-related macular degeneration can be held off with regular injections to prevent vision loss over time. If glaucoma is discovered early, specific eye drops can help lower the eye pressure which in turn slows or prevents vision loss. Cataracts can be removed when vision becomes too blurry. Retinal detachment if caught in time can be reversed. A macular hole can often be repaired. Uveitis in a lot of cases can be controlled with steroids.. the list goes on. Unfortunately for me, I am just an extremely rare case where an optician’s appointment and subsequent hospital visits can’t help me, but they could for 80% of the rest of people with eye conditions. I never knew I was losing my eyesight to Stargardts disease, I hadn’t noticed my blind spots or blurring as it was just normal vision for me. Don’t leave an optician’s appointment until symptoms arise, as it may be too late then. People should be going regularly every two years to prevent any eye conditions from forming or progressing. Eye pressure can be very serious, leading to problems with your optic nerve with an increased risk of getting glaucoma, but there can be limited symptoms or symptoms that people may associate with a headache or migraine. It can only be measured by a professional who can then tell you whether your eye pressure is within normal range or not. There are several other conditions like this that may be silent and very little symptoms that you realise.

So many people don’t regard the opticians as necessary if they don’t feel anything is wrong, but our eyesight is so precious that nobody should be taking it for granted and should ensure that they have regular check-ups and ensure their children do too, eye conditions don’t just appear in adulthood and having regular eye checks by a professional is the only way to see right into the eye and know what your overall eye health is. 

It is important to keep up with regular eye glasses prescriptions and contact lenses for people who have correctable vision, so they maintain their optimum eye function and vision. It is also important to wear sunglasses outside to protect against UV rays, even when it is bright but cloudy, UV rays can still reach the eye.

I hope anyone reading this that hasn’t been to the opticians for a while or needs to book an appointment is reminded to, that’s all I ever want when I write these posts. If I could prevent my eyes from deteriorating, I would do it in a heartbeat 💜 .