Preventative eye-care

Preventative Eye Care

The very inception of “Great Sight For Life” is all about preventative eye care. In the last 5 – 10 years, the world of eye care has come a long way. Anecdotal reports of how myopia (“short sight”) develops have been backed up by research, allowing us to confidently advise how to minimize your chances of developing this common condition. Macular degeneration has had more exposure in the community, and the ways it might start have been researched, allowing us to also advise our patients on how to minimize the chance of developing this blinding disease.

Optometry is all about total eye care. Optometrists are the “GPs” of the eye world.
At ICU, we’ve been watching what happens in the land of research and we take it to heart when it comes to our patients. This is why:
- We have a retinal camera (click here to learn more) to gain better insights into your eye (and cardiovascular) health.
- We take steps to ensure people are aware, from a very young age, how to better preserve great sight for a lifetime.
- Rather than “just prescribing glasses” for young people with short sight, we take steps to minimize the chances of their even developing it in the first place.

We use corneal topography to determine the risk of development of keratoconus in susceptible people, and to help them put steps in place to minimize the risk of this disease developing. We ask careful history questions designed to outline your overall risk profile for eye disease, then tailor a programme of regular screening for better detection and treatment. We recommend simple lifestyle concepts that tie in with our patients’ overall health, to enhance their prospects of maintaining Great Sight For Life.

Simple Lifestyle Concepts to keep Great Sight For Life!

After a lifetime of working hard, retirement should bring with it the freedom to do all those things we’ve dreamed of – the time to sit and read, going on the cruise of a lifetime to see the world. Isn’t it ironic then that as we age, our eyes are more likely to suffer from various sight-threatening diseases? Wouldn’t it make good sense for us to take stock of this now, to take positive steps and maximize our chances of enjoying great sight for life?

If we look after our bodies, we’re looking after our eyes by default. Our eyes receive nutrients and oxygen through our blood system, and what you put in is what you get out.
The day is fast approaching when you won’t be able to visit a health professional in any arena without being told, “Eat well and exercise.” Optometry is no exception. There is evidence to show that ischaemia plays a role in tipping the eye into disease conditions including the three big blinders we encounter as we age: glaucoma, cataracts and macular degeneration. Ischaemia is a condition whereby our cardiovascular (blood) system fails to deliver oxygen and nutrients to the tiny little capillaries that need to feed them to the tissues in our eyes. The tissues starve and are unable to protect themselves against degenerative processes. If you get plenty of good food and exercise, this is less likely to happen.

At ICU we think it makes good sense, from early childhood onwards through all age groups, to remind people that good lifestyle habits are important to our eyes. So aim for those “5&2” – 5 serves of veges and 2 fruits every day. Put plenty of colour in there – the pigmented nutrients are known for their protective effects. And yes – carrots are good for your eyes! So are kiwi fruits, corn, green leafies, honeydew melon, and citrus fruits.

Aim for 30 minutes cardiovascular exercise every day
Just going for a walk each morning will do this. It makes your heart and blood vessels better able to “deliver the goods” to those tiny little capillaries that need to feed them to your eyes. Keep the sun out! Yes – vitamin D (which our body needs sunlight to manufacture) is important to your bones and if you don’t get enough, you’ll be in trouble. However, the sun notoriously contributes to many eye diseases, including cataracts, macular degeneration, pterygium, melanoma and basal cell carcinoma. Get your sunnies on! Australian regulations are policed pretty rigorously, making it difficult to find (even "el cheapo") sunnies in Australia that aren’t highly UV-protective. If you hate wearing sunnies, just think – do I hate them more than I’d hate having an eye disease later on? If you keep losing them, buy lots of cheapies and stash them all over the house.

For swimmers and surfers – there are even prescription goggles you can wear. Yes, you’ll look like a wally in the surf it you wear them. But you’ll be setting a great example and you’re protecting your eyesight.

Give up the fags! If you’re a smoker, everyone else has already told you to give up the smokes. Now it’s the optometrist’s turn. Smoking increases the risk of eye diseases like macular degeneration by SIX TIMES. Macular degeneration affects 28% of people over 80. It’s blinding. Give ‘em up.

Regular checkups: many conditions, the most glaring example being glaucoma, have no symptoms when they’re the easiest to treat. Ensure your eyes are checked every 2 years. At ICU our policy is to book your next appointment before you leave, ensuring your checkups remain up-to-date.