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World Sight Day is held annually on the second Thursday of October and aims to raise awareness about the issue of eye health.
We caught up with Stephen Minett, Vision Australia Senior Orthoptist, to learn more about the importance of eye health and the steps people should take to look after their eyes.
Q: How often should people be having their vision checked?
“I recommend for most of us to have our eyes checked every one to two years if your vision is stable” says Stephen.
“For those of us with any health risks or who are over 65 I would encourage yearly checks. But I would encourage anyone with recently blurred vision, eye strain, flashes, new floaters, pain or sudden loss to have their vision checked promptly.”
Q: It can be confusing to know when to get your vision checked. Are there any signs that it might be time for a checkup?
“Squinting or holding reading material closer to or further away than usual to make letters clearer may indicate a need for glasses or an update to a current prescription.
“Similarly, increased eye rubbing, which can be a symptom of increased screen time, generates drier eyes and eye strain which can lead to more frequent eye rubbing.”
“Double vision, be it transient or permanent can indicate changes in some key eye structures.”
Q: Is there anything else people can do to help know when it might be time to see an eye health professional?
“Our ever-faithful Amsler Grid for those who have been diagnosed with macular degeneration is a simple yet effective way of capturing macular changes.
“There is a growing market of ‘at-home’ vision checking applications accessible from phones and tablets which can be a way of identifying the need for further examination.”
Q: Despite the support available, what are some of the misconceptions people still have about living with blindness or low vision?
“People do still think that wearing glasses will correct their vision, but there are many vision conditions where stronger glasses will have no benefit to reducing vision loss.
“Similarly, people sometimes think that assistive technology might solve everything. Assistive technology can play a big part in people’s lives, but it’s still important for people to get hands-on support from people like orthoptists, occupational therapists or orientation and mobility specialists to learn skills to over come challenges
“The biggest thing we want people to know is that living with vision loss isn’t impossible. There are Vision Australia clients and other people from across the blind and low vision community who are a testament to this every day.”
As we celebrate World Sight Day for another year, don’t forget, the best time to get your vision checked was yesterday!
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