Can you age proof your eyes? Eye care advice for National Eye Health Week
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This National Eye Health Week (23-29 September 2024), leading eye hospital group Optegra Eye Hospital London is suggesting a few small lifestyle changes we can all make to ‘age-proof’ our eyes and ensure we maintain the best vision for as long as possible:
· First and foremost, book regular eye health checks at your local optician - the NHS recommends every two years. This is a chance to check the health of your eye and spot any eye conditions early as well as provide support if you are short or long sighted.
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Hide Ad· Take regular breaks from screen usage especially mobile phones and computers. Use the 20-20-20 technique – every 20 minutes, look 20 feet into the distance for 20 seconds – to help your eyes adjust and re-focus.


· Eat well to see well - eating a balanced diet with plenty of coloured vegetables and oily fish can really benefit eye health. The antioxidant properties of Vitamin C, found in peppers, tomatoes and strawberries, can delay the onset of cataract and age-related macular degeneration, whilst salmon contains Omega-3 which can help prevent dry eyes.
· Keep moving - staying active is great for overall health and wellbeing, and can also benefit our eyesight and vision. Low impact exercise can help to reduce eye pressure, which is a major factor in glaucoma, and exercise helps to relax our facial muscles and reduce eye strain. Remember to wear protective eye wear when playing fast racquet sports – especially badminton and squash!
Mr Amir Hamid, Medical Director for Optegra, reinforces that having a regular eye test is the most important thing people can do to protect their precious eyesight. He said: “Eye tests are vitally important in picking up serious sight-threatening eye conditions.
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Hide Ad“Many conditions such as glaucoma and Age-Related Macular Degeneration do not have any obvious symptoms at their earliest stages – and yet this is the optimum time to start treatment. An eye test will detect these conditions. Cataract can also hugely impact vision for one in three adults and should be treated before it becomes too severe.
“The best solution is to have regular eye tests, which expose any early signs of disease so we can start treatment as early as possible and secure the best outcomes.”
“Having an eye test ended up improving my golf game”
Alastair Kay went to the optician for his regular eye test and was surprised to discover that he had cataract in both eyes. “I have been wearing hard contact lenses for 45 years, my eyesight is so bad without them.
“I like to play golf at my local club in Worthing but noticed that I have been losing sight of the ball in the distance which was affecting my game.
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Hide Ad“Now, following surgery, my golf game is improving, I don’t lose sight of the ball and my local handicap is going down. It’s a win-win situation for me and I’m delighted.”
Optegra Eye Health Care is a specialist provider of ophthalmic services. Established in 2007, it has completed over one million eye procedures from its 40 eye hospitals and clinics across the UK, Czech Republic and Poland.
Optegra brings together leading-edge research, medical expertise and state-of-the-art surgical equipment. It performs more than 100,000 treatments annually, both private and publicly funded. Its top ophthalmic surgeons are renowned for their areas of expertise, offering excellent clinical outcomes and great patient service.
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