Unsure how you should be caring for your eyes? We have collected some articles below explaining healthy eye tips for the whole family. We hope you will find the following eye care articles helpful and we will be adding more as we come across articles we think you’ll find interesting. We also recommend the following educational websites for detailed information on a wide range of eye care topics:
Senior Eye Health
As most people age, their vision needs change. Complications often arise, and getting expert care from a Doctor of Optometry is critical.
At age 65 and older, you should have an eye exam at least once a year. A comprehensive eye health examination should be the key to preserving your vision and making it last a lifetime. Regular exams conducted by your Doctor of Optometry give you peace of mind in knowing that your eyes are being treated by an eye health professional that can identify potential health issues early.
Early identification and treatment of conditions that can often have no visible symptoms is key to protecting your sight.
Healthy Eyes Tips
Exercise Your Eyes – There are muscles in the eyes that we can stimulate and strengthen by practicing these simple exercises recommended by Dr Howard Purcell:
- Change your focus by looking at distance and looking at near;
- Move the eyes around in different directions;
- The 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, take a break for 20 seconds, look 20 feet away;
- Blink your eyes to increase visual comfort and hydrate your eyes;
- High five: If you can high-five your computer screen, you’re at a perfect distance for your eyes.
Click to read more, including Tips for Healthy Eyes and how to prepare for your appointment with your optometrist at Mona Vision.
Children's Eye Health
What could be more important than your child’s vision?
Since 80% of a child’s learning is based on vision, excellent sight and eye health are critical to a child’s development.
But, surprisingly, one in five children entering school has a vision disorder and one in six children has been misdiagnosed with a learning disability when in fact they have a correctable vision problem. Not knowing any differently, many of these children accept poor vision and other eye problems as normal. If left unchecked, serious long-term effects can result.
Not all children’s eye conditions have obvious symptoms. The best way to protect your child’s eye health is to book an eye exam with our optometrist at Mona Vision. Kid’s eye exams are FREE with a valid BC medical card.
Vision Care In The Digital Age
What is it and why is it important?
With the introduction of the retinal camera, eye Doctors are now able to visualize the retina as a whole. The Carl Zeiss Visucam 200 Retinal Camera captures an image of the retina that allows for early detection and monitoring of ocular disease. Small retinal changes can have dramatic consequences in visual function and performance. Early detection is vital to maintaining proper visual function.
With this technology, it is now possible to document and compare the state of health of the eye from one appointment to the next, allowing for earlier detection of any disease and/or progression.
The retinal picture is an important photographic record for the future so we have provided this service as part of your eye exam.
Understanding Vision
80% of all the information we receive is perceived by our eyes.
The eye is a fragile organ which must be treated with care. Understanding how vision works allows you to take better care of your visual health. Understanding the mechanisms of vision helps you better protect your visual health.
Our vision evolves throughout our live. We can identify three major stages:
The formation of the eye happens between 0 and 10 years: At birth our visual abilities are extremely poor. We can’t see beyond 20 centimetres. Our eyesight develops until the age of 10. This phase is crucial, which is why it is important to control its evolution. One parent out of three never brings their child to the eyecare professional. Today, one in four schoolchildren doesn’t see properly. Visual defects such as astigmatism, myopia or hyperopia can affect young children and have dramatic consequences if not diagnosed and treated in time. So keep your eyes open!
The optimum condition of the eye is between 20 and 45 years.
Blue Light
Did you know that blue light can be dangerous, yet it’s also essential for good health?
In particularly hot summers with intense sunshine, high levels of UV radiation can pose a problem. As well as protecting your skin with sunscreen, it’s also important to protect your eyes by wearing high-quality sunglasses. But what many people don’t realize is that our eyes are increasingly exposed to blue light even when we’re indoors because of modern light sources such as computer screens and smart phones. And this high-energy light can be hazardous to our eyes.
What we need are ‘intelligent’ filters which reduce the levels of potentially harmful light without affecting the spectrum of light that is essential for good health. That’s the goal behind specially coated lenses which can help keep your eyes healthy over the long term.