Our health is naturally a primary concern in our lives, as we carefully monitor our condition and any emergent symptoms on a day-by-day basis. But, despite the fundamental importance of our eyesight to our daily lives, many of us neglect to check in with our vision as often as other parts of our constitution. Why should you commit to getting eye tests on a regular basis?
Detecting Eye Conditions Early
One of the principal benefits of taking part in regular eye testing relates to the early detection of potentially harmful eye conditions. Your vision is not just at risk from age-related degeneration; there are also several diseases and eye conditions that can pose a real risk to your sight, whether glaucoma or burgeoning cataracts.
Regular eye testing ensures that conditions such as these are caught at the earliest possible time before their symptoms develop and pose life-changing risks to your eyes and eyesight. In certain cases, these conditions may be cancer-related, and early detection could have key implications for your wider health.
Improving Quality of Life
Of course, the main reason that people take part in regular eye testing is to ensure that their vision is not changing too rapidly without intervention or accommodation. Many people will develop a need for spectacles over time, and their specific needs will change as they age. Eye testing tracks these needs, and ensures that people are wearing the right prescriptions at all times.
This can have a serious knock-on effect on the quality of life, where diminished eyesight as a result of improper prescriptions can lead to an increased risk of injury from trips, slips and falls. The right prescription can also prevent eye strain, and simply make navigating day-to-day life much easier overall.
Driving and Your Eyes
For regular drivers, regular eye tests are an essential undertaking – one underpinned by the initial DVLA requirement for a driver to be able to read a numberplate at 20 metres before obtaining their license. According to experts at contact lens specialists Lenstore, motorists should endeavour to take an eye test every one or two years, in order to ensure they are still able to safely operate their vehicle.
Poorer vision, even if only subtly worse, can result in slower reaction times and increased accident risk – risk compounded by the sunrise and sunset in winter months. Lenstore also recommends keeping sunglasses in the car to prevent vision complications during peak commuter hours in the winter.
A Window to Health
The last reason you should consider getting your eyes tested regularly is a reason that not many people are aware of. Not only can eye tests catch conditions or potential deterioration early, but eye tests can also reveal wider ailments and conditions you may be suffering unawares.
The eyes are, so to speak, a ‘window’ to your health, and can bear key symptoms for several burgeoning conditions and diseases in your body. For example, changes in colour to the sclera of your eye could reveal issues with your liver or gallbladder, or even indicate diabetes in certain people.
