News
ENLARGE
Imagine your typical morning routine involves watching the news, driving to work and reading e-mails. Now, imagine you wake up and everything is cloudy and unclear.
You can no longer see the newscast from across the kitchen and you suddenly feel unsafe driving to work because the road signs are blurry. When you try to read e-mails, the screen is hazy.
While these symptoms may take some time to set in, this scenario is a real possibility when proper eye health is neglected.
For many adults, going to see an ophthalmologist for a comprehensive eye exam is a chore that takes time away from an already hectic schedule.
However, when weighed against the alternative of sight loss, it does not seem like a high price to pay to keep your eyes healthy. You can safeguard your ability to see by getting a routine eye exam every one to five years, depending on your health and age.
An eye exam has multiple elements that help determine the health of one's eyes. It typically includes a thorough patient and family history to evaluate the presence of prior eye and general health issues, as well as the existence of hereditary conditions.
Visual acuity measurements are taken along with other assessments to determine any eye impairment. Other tests may be conducted to evaluate eyes for cataracts, macular degeneration, color blindness and glaucoma.
In addition to routine eye exams, there are additional steps that can be taken to preserve and protect your vision. For example, cleaning your hands and contact lenses properly and regularly can help reduce your risk of infection.
Furthermore, maintaining a healthy diet and weight are important for overall health, as well as eye health specifically.
Eating a diet full of dark, leafy greens and omega-3 fatty acids (found in fish) has been proven to benefit eye health. If a patient happens to suffer from diabetes, it is even more crucial they eat a healthy diet and go in for routine eye exams.
Diabetes is one of the leading causes of new cases of blindness among adults in the United States. Diabetics also have a high rate of other eye health issues.
Protecting your eyes from outside elements is another important step to preserving your eyesight. This can be as simple as wearing sunglasses with UV-A and UV-B protection. If you work in an environment where foreign objects could come in contact with your eyes, such as a saw mill, wearing protective eyewear is essential.
If you follow these guidelines and get routine eye exams, you can rest assured that you have done your part to protect your eyesight and ensure the TV screen, road signs and computer screen will remain clear.
Comprehensive eye exams are offered at various clinics throughout Roseburg. If you haven't seen your ophthalmologist in a while, see to it that you schedule an appointment soon.
Patrick Gregg is a board certified Roseburg ophthalmologist and a member of DCIPA, The Physicians of Douglas County. If there's a health care topic you would like to see covered, please contact Dan Hern at dhern@dcipa.com.
You can no longer see the newscast from across the kitchen and you suddenly feel unsafe driving to work because the road signs are blurry. When you try to read e-mails, the screen is hazy.
While these symptoms may take some time to set in, this scenario is a real possibility when proper eye health is neglected.
For many adults, going to see an ophthalmologist for a comprehensive eye exam is a chore that takes time away from an already hectic schedule.
However, when weighed against the alternative of sight loss, it does not seem like a high price to pay to keep your eyes healthy. You can safeguard your ability to see by getting a routine eye exam every one to five years, depending on your health and age.
An eye exam has multiple elements that help determine the health of one's eyes. It typically includes a thorough patient and family history to evaluate the presence of prior eye and general health issues, as well as the existence of hereditary conditions.
Visual acuity measurements are taken along with other assessments to determine any eye impairment. Other tests may be conducted to evaluate eyes for cataracts, macular degeneration, color blindness and glaucoma.
In addition to routine eye exams, there are additional steps that can be taken to preserve and protect your vision. For example, cleaning your hands and contact lenses properly and regularly can help reduce your risk of infection.
Furthermore, maintaining a healthy diet and weight are important for overall health, as well as eye health specifically.
Eating a diet full of dark, leafy greens and omega-3 fatty acids (found in fish) has been proven to benefit eye health. If a patient happens to suffer from diabetes, it is even more crucial they eat a healthy diet and go in for routine eye exams.
Diabetes is one of the leading causes of new cases of blindness among adults in the United States. Diabetics also have a high rate of other eye health issues.
Protecting your eyes from outside elements is another important step to preserving your eyesight. This can be as simple as wearing sunglasses with UV-A and UV-B protection. If you work in an environment where foreign objects could come in contact with your eyes, such as a saw mill, wearing protective eyewear is essential.
If you follow these guidelines and get routine eye exams, you can rest assured that you have done your part to protect your eyesight and ensure the TV screen, road signs and computer screen will remain clear.
Comprehensive eye exams are offered at various clinics throughout Roseburg. If you haven't seen your ophthalmologist in a while, see to it that you schedule an appointment soon.
Patrick Gregg is a board certified Roseburg ophthalmologist and a member of DCIPA, The Physicians of Douglas County. If there's a health care topic you would like to see covered, please contact Dan Hern at dhern@dcipa.com.
