Aging and Your Eyes

Everyday we get a little bit older, and so do our eyes. Just like our hair, wrinkles, and metabolism, our eyes notice the passing years. Just like our overall health, there is a lot we an do to keep our eyes healthy; however, no matter how healthy we are some issues become more prominent the older we are.

Common Eye Diseases

No matter your age, it is always important to be aware of the problems that you may encounter.

• Dry Eye- Pregnancy and menopause release hormones that can cause changes with the production of tears. Additionally, medications can have side effects that can effect your eye’s tear production.
• Presbyopia- Eye’s loose flexibility starting in your late 30s to early 40s. This is what causes reading at close distances more difficult. This can easily be corrected with reading glasses (over-the-counter).
• Cataracts- This is caused by proteins that build up in your lens, which make your lenses less transparent. The build up, or clumps, are what is known as cataracts. The main treatments of cataracts are glasses, for the early symptoms, and surgery to remove them.
• Diabetic Retinopathy- Individuals, with diabetes, in their 50s, 60s, and 70s have greater chance of issues with retinopathy. This is when the blood vessels in your retina enlarge, leak fluid, and/or close off. This can be avoided by keeping control of your blood sugar and blood pressure.
• Glaucoma- In individuals 55 and older, start to notice side vision loss. This is caused by damage to your optic near transmitting information to your brain. Glaucoma does not aways show symptoms until later. Regular Optician eye exams can help find these issues when they are not present.
• Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)- This is the leading cause of blindness in Canadian over the age of 65. This disease affects your central vision center, where you are able to read and recognize faces. With this disease, the light sensitive part of your retina thins or a abnormal growth of blood vessels under your retina. With regular visits to your eye doctor, you can reduce vision loss, and sometimes recover your vision.
• Floaters and Flashes- Over the age of 46, the fluid that fills your eyes start to diminish. This can form clumps or strands in your eyes. This strands are also known as “floaters”. Flashes are caused by the fluid pulling away from the back wall of your eye, cause what looks like “flashes”. If you have had eye injuries or nearsightedness, you may want to schedule an appointment with you optician.

Healthy Eye Habits

It is never too early to prepare for and avoid vision issues. This is because healthy long-term habits can prevent eye site problems. Two of the best ways to avoid eye problems are to stay active and eat healthy. These two habits positively affect your entire body, including your eyes. The next best way to help your eyes is to protect your eyes from harmful UV radiation with sunglasses.

Another great way to make sure your eyes stay healthy is to top smoking. Smoking increases your risk of AMD. Quitting smoking can improve your eyes, as well as your over all health. Another habit that cause cause issues to your overall and eye health is digital eye strain. Canadian spend most of their day looking at electronics, whether it is computers, phones, tablets, or televisions. To avoid your eyes becoming tired, you can look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes.

How Eye Exams Can Help You

With regular eye exams, and proper habits can keep you one step ahead of your eye health. If you start to notice any system of these problems, schedule your appointment with your Nearest Location. Our comprehensive eye exams will help diagnose many diseases that may have gone unrecognized. If you start to notice any vision loss, blurriness, eye pain, double vision, floaters, or redness and swelling, make an appointment right away to avoid serious damage to your eyes.