Poor eyesight is not just something that affects your ability to read or see things at a distance; poor eyesight and vision problems can have a direct effect on the rest of your body and, therefore, your health.
Eyesight issues
There are many different types of eye and vision problems. The most common is, of course, short-sightedness, where objects at a distance appear blurry. Then there is its opposite, long-sightedness, where close-up objects are blurry. Both of these conditions can be treated by the use of visual aids, namely glasses or contact lenses, but you can also have surgery to operate on the eye itself. Such optical surgeries are to be found in many places, but ensure that you find a LASIK practice in Houston that is registered and reputable. Laser surgery of this type is used to surgically cut the eye to make flaps on the corneal tissue, reshaping the eye to improve vision.
Laser surgery can also be used to remove cataracts, a milky film that develops over the eye, which is usually associated with age or eye infections. Symptoms of cataracts include double or even triple vision, hazy vision that worsens in bright light, and in advanced cases, inflammation of the eye that causes pain and builds up pressure.
Another common condition is astigmatism, where the eyeball becomes shaped like a rugby ball rather than a soccer ball, and where blurriness occurs at any distance. Astigmatism cannot be cured, but neither is it a particularly debilitating vision problem.
Glaucoma, on the other hand, can be very debilitating in its most severe stages. For example, acute glaucoma can cause headaches, extreme pain in the eyes, rainbow halos surrounding lighting, and nausea and vomiting, while macular degeneration causes distorted vision and a gradual loss of central vision, sometimes with blank spots. It is normally associated with ageing.
While increasing age and general degeneration of the human body is responsible for eyesight issues, modern life can be said to have exacerbated some of the problems. Extended viewing of illuminated screens, such as computers, TVs, cell phones, and tablets, can cause eyestrain, fatigue, dry eyes, headaches, and neck and shoulder aches. It is therefore important to limit their use and make a deliberate effort to blink regularly to hydrate the eyes. Dry, tired, and irritated eyes can also be treated with special eye drops.
If you suffer from persistent headaches and eyes that feel tired or strained, you should get your eyes checked out. The cause could be as simple as spending too much time staring at a screen, or that your prescription has changed and your old lenses are no longer up to the job. On the other hand, it could be indicative of something more serious, such as an affliction inside the skull or high blood pressure.
Always pay regular visits to your optician to ensure that your eyes are kept in as good health as possible and forestall any existing problems developing into something more serious.
