|
VISION CARE FOR SENIORS
Perhaps the most often overlooked part of a
healthy lifestyle for seniors is a regular eye examination. I
often work with patients whom have established a very thorough
schedule for yearly physicals and hearing tests, yet obtain eye
examinations only every few years. It often produces a good
chuckle between the patient and me when they can name every visit
to their dentist and regular doctor over the past year but can't
remember the year that they had their last eye examination, much
less the doctor's name! For the most part, we eyecare
practitioners can forgive the fact that we are less than
memorable at times, but this brings to light a very important
fact regarding regular eyecare, especially for seniors.
The Need for Routine Exams as you Have More Birthdays
-Most folks follow the rule that if they can see
fine and their glasses are not broken, they can avoid the eye
doctor. Although a new glasses prescription is always a good
reason to see your eye doctor, it becomes easy to overlook what
is MOST IMPORTANT, the examination of eye health. This should be,
and with most doctors is, the most thorough and in-depth part of
your visit. Once you reach age 40, you need to consider the
health of your eyes as the first motivation for an eye
examination, and build regular eye exams into your personal
schedule of physicals and dentist visits. Most seniors should be
seen by their eye doctor once a year to check for changes in eye
health.
Cataracts and Glaucoma - The Outcome Always Looks
Better with Early Detection -
A very important effect of yearly eye examinations after the age
of 40 has to do with the two most common problems for seniors,
cataracts and glaucoma. Although treatment results may vary from
patient to patient, one thing is clear -- early detection and
frequent monitoring improves the outcome. When eyecare is delayed
for years at a time, cataracts and glaucoma can progress
unnoticed to the point where treatment becomes more difficult for
both you and your doctor. For me personally, the tragic cases are
where patients delay eye examinations for years and years, then
come in with advanced conditions where cataract surgery is
difficult or the damage from glaucoma is permanent. Since both
conditions give slow, painless changes in vision, the patient
often does not notice. Again, with yearly eye examinations, even
if cataracts or glaucoma are detected, the best decisions can be
made before permanent changes occur.
If you currently base your decision to see your eye doctor solely
on how well you are seeing or how scratched your glasses are,
consider changing to a yearly eye examination schedule. Build it
right in to your personal program for fitness: regular physicals,
dentists visits, and eye examinations. The sight you save may be
your own!
- Dr. Glenn Hammack
- UAB Optometry
To make an appointment with UAB
Optometry, call (205) 975-2020
Return to the UAB
Optometry Clinics Home Page
|