Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Sign of the times: How your vision changes with age

The end of summer is near which means we’re quickly approaching Children’s Vision Month. Throughout October, Children’s Vision Month highlights the importance of monitoring children’s vision so they’re able to reach their full learning and development potential.
While Children’s Vision Month in October puts a particular focus on children, it’s important for parents to also prioritize their own vision health. As we grow older, our eyes might not show many signs of aging aesthetically, however, the same cannot be said for their functionality. Typically, beginning in early to mid-40’s, adults eyes start deteriorating and stop operating like they once did.
Here are some of the ways our eyes and vision change as we get older:
  • Is that red or orange?- The cells in our eyes that control the way we see colour become less sensitive as we age, which results in less colour vibrancy making it harder to distinguish certain colour shades- all the more reasons to stop and enjoy the 7 shades of the rainbow while we can.
  • Less tears- As we get older, the tear glands in our eyes produce fewer tears leading to more frequent stints of dry eyes and irritation.
  • More light please- With age, our pupil sizes become smaller and less responsive to changes in light conditions, which means our eyes require more light than they once did to see clearly.
  • Increase the font size- Small font sizes become a thing of the past as we age due the lenses in our eyes becoming less flexible; this makes near objects less clear and harder to focus on.
While some changes to our vision are a natural part of the aging process, it’s important to monitor changes to your vision that could be an indicator of a bigger eye health problem, such as glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, or cataracts. Make sure to book annual comprehensive eye exams with you one of our Doctors of Optometry to ensure you monitor your eye health as you age.

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