Learn The Importance of Vision Health During World Optometry Day

What World Optometry Day Means

World Optometry Day is a yearly event that highlights how vital eye care is for staying healthy. It's a perfect time for everyone to get more information on how to look after their eyes. Started in 1992, this day is now driven by the World Council of Optometry to show how important it is to have access to good eye care everywhere. The theme for 2024, "Advancing Optometry's Commitment to Global Eye Care," keeps up the effort to spread knowledge and support eye health.

Don't forget to note World Optometry Day in your calendar and come to EyeCare Associates for a full eye check-up. With a dedicated team ready to look after your eye health and vision, and 31 locations in Alabama, it's easy to get our help. You can book your visit now by calling us or booking an appointment online.

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Why You Should Get Your Eyes Checked Regularly

At EyeCare Associates, we know how important your sight is for daily activities and for your health. We're here to make sure your eyes are well cared for. Keeping your vision safe is important, and our experts are here for you.

Getting your eyes checked often is important for keeping them healthy. Regular vision care can stop eye problems before they get worse. An eye check-up every year is a good way to keep your eyes healthy and your vision sharp.

Eye exams do more than just help with your glasses or contact lens prescription. They are very important for your overall eye health. These check-ups help find serious eye problems early. We suggest getting an eye exam every year, even if you’re young or feel like your eyes are healthy. You never know what might be lurking beneath the surface.

Eye Problems You Should Know About

Some eye problems can cause serious damage to your vision if they aren’t treated right away. Speedy help from a specialist can often separate losing your sight or keeping it healthy and strong.

To know when to go see an eye doctor, we've listed some common eye problems we take care of to keep you informed. Knowing about these problems is a big step in keeping your eyes healthy. Catching and treating eye issues early is the best method of preserving your eye sight.

Common Eye Infections

Eye infections can come from different things, like getting a scratch on your eye, not taking care of an eye injury, not using contact lenses right, or touching your eyes without clean hands. Knowing how to stop and treat eye infections starts with understanding these causes.

At EyeCare Associates, we take care of all kinds of eye infections, from the common Pink Eye to more serious ones like keratitis. Signs of an eye infection can include feeling uncomfortable, redness, swelling, and itching or burning. It's very important to get any eye infection checked by a doctor.

If you don't take care of an eye infection, it can lead to bigger problems, like uveitis, which makes your eyes red, swollen, and painful, and can blur your vision. If eye infections aren't treated, they can cause permanent damage to your sight. If you think you have an eye infection, come in to see us right away.

Cataracts

A lot of people get cataracts as they get older. In fact, about half of all Americans will experience them at some point in their lives. Cataracts make your eye's lens cloudy, which happens when the proteins in the lens stick together and block light from getting through.

Symptoms of cataracts can include having a hard time seeing when it's not bright, being more bothered by glare, seeing halos around lights, seeing double, blurry vision, and colors looking faded.

The good news is cataracts can be treated. At EyeCare Associates, we have different ways to treat cataracts, including surgery. This surgery usually replaces the cloudy lens with a clear, artificial one to make your vision better. If you think you might have cataracts, come see us to talk about how we can help restore your vision.

Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)

For people over 60, AMD is a big risk that can lead to losing your sight if it's not taken care of right. AMD affects the macula, a part of the eye that helps you see clearly straight in front of you, which makes it hard to do things like read or recognize faces.

At EyeCare Associates, we focus on finding AMD early because it doesn't usually show signs at first. Our eye doctors are good at spotting early signs of this condition during eye exams. Finding AMD early is important because acting fast can help you keep more of your sight.

Even though there's no cure for AMD, keeping an eye on it and getting treatment can help keep your eyes healthy. If you're over 60, we suggest getting your eyes checked every year. If AMD runs in your family, you might need to come in more often. These check-ups help our doctors spot any signs of AMD early and start treatment quickly.

Glaucoma

Glaucoma is often called "the silent thief of sight" because it can slowly hurt your vision without you noticing at first. A lot of times, people don't know they have it until it's too late and they've lost some of their sight.

At EyeCare Associates, we think it's very important for all of our patients to get their eyes checked regularly. This helps find glaucoma early before it damages your vision permanently.

Treating glaucoma is usually straightforward, with medicines to help lower the pressure in your eyes and stop more damage. Sometimes, surgery might be needed to fix problems with how fluid drains from your eyes and to help lower pressure.