How An Eye Test Could Save Your Life
Whether you are young or old, it is always sensible to have regular eye tests. Most of us assume we have perfect vision, but years of straining, perhaps trying to read a screen during lectures at college, or just natual deterioration, can lead to a gradual decline in eyesight. For many people this gradual decline is imperceptible; but for others, myself included, at some point the blinding headaches begin. Once you have ruled out any other external factors, and if the headaches persist, you go to the opticians and they tell you you’ve become shortsighted. Then, armed with a new pair of eyeglasses, it is like somebody just switched the lights on!
Usually for people moving into middle age, blinding headaches are not the call to action; more likely, you’ll reach the stage where your arms are no longer long enough to enable you to peer at a newspaper or book, and still focus properly! There are loads of ways to buy nonprescription glasses these days, which are generally aimed at older people as they correct farsightedness – so they are basically reading glasses rather than for seeing distances.
Whatever your age, and even if you have already decided to get yourself some cheap nonprescription reading glasses, it is wise to see an optician. They are experts in eye health, and will check for other underlying health conditions that may not yet have been detected. There are many documented cases where lives have been saved because of an unusual discovery during a routine eye exam. For example, diabetes can be spotted because it alters blood sugar levels, and the resulting fluid imbalances can cause the eyes to swell; this will affect eyesight, and is probably the reason you showed up at the optician’s in the first place. Another more concerning example came from a person who went for an eye exam and found out there was a swelling of their optic discs, indicating extremely high blood pressure, and which required an immediate visit to the hospital – the optician herself actually took him there! In rare cases, a simple eye test has shown dark abnormalities at the back of the eye, which turned out to be a brain tumor.
Thankfully these types of gruesome discoveries are very rare, but they are the kind of things we would all want to know about early, while there is still time to get a proper medical intervention. If you are fine, but need some reading glasses, just pay for the exam and buy them cheaper elsewhere! The main thing is that you can rest assured there are no uncovered diseases lurking away. It is advisable to get a professional eye test done every two years.