Hi,
I attended an educational talk by Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) on 'Retinal Eye Conditions' and I like to share a few interesting facts that we ought to know.
Your eyes may not be fine even when you are seeing fine especially if you have diabetes. So it is advisable to have your eyes checked not by an optometrist but by an Eye Doctor or Specialist!
1. Floaters & Flashes
Floaters are like dust or cobwebs that you see occassionally and may disappear when you blink ( it is very obvious if you look up into a clear blue sky ). It may be a few or a lot but when you notice a change from your normal vision, it is advisable to have your eyes checked immediately. It is due to coagulation of the gel in the eyeball and it can lead to retinal tear or detachment. A good analogy by the speaker was that our eye gel is changing from agar agar to 'cheng tng'.
This is due to aging and no known prevention. Most of us should have it but we may not notice it, as we age.
My dear wife started wth floaters and then a retina tear about a year later. I have some intermitten flashes 2 years ago. My optometrist friend suspected that it was due to stress but still asked me to see an eye specialist. It was found that I have Dry Eye problem and all seems fine inside the eye. Recently, I went for a 2nd opinion as I have some irritation on my eye and teared often, no problem found but changed my eye drops to one without preservatives and cost double the price. I need to use it daily and for life!
The main message that I want to convey to you is that you will be getting floaters as you age but do not take it too lightly. It can lead to other serious problems like retina tear or detachment and it is good to catch it early.
2. Dry Eyes
As we age the production of tears to lubricate our eyes is likely to degenerate. But the funny thing is that the body will force it to produce tears to compensate for it and you will end up tearing more than usual but it is actually a sympton of Dry Eye!
As mentioned above, the only way is to apply artificial tears which are readily available in places like Guardian and Watson. But if it does not help, then you got to go for the ones without preservatives as you eyes may be sensitive to it.
3. Cataract
This was not part of the topic but there ware questions on it.
Again, this is due to aging and we are likely to get it. The lens turn opaque and a day surgery is requred to replace it with a new lens ( plastic like ? ). My parents and my mother-in-law have theirs done already!
So there you are.... I hope you are now more aware and know what to watch out for and do not take it lightly as I think sight is the most imortant sense.
We were also taken a tour of the facilities including the operating theatre and we saw a mock-up or role play of the preparation for an eye operation. I am impressed.
BTW, SNEC and other heatlh organisations organises such education talks and they are advertised in the papers. Only S$10 per head so I strongly encourage that you watch out for those that you may be interested in.
I have attended talks on Nose Cancer, Colon Cancer and Arthritics over the years.
An annual eye check is recommended by an eye specialist. They will dilate your eyes and use special equipment to look into your eye and if necessary, take images of the interior and even do a scan.
Take care and stay healthy, my friends!
David
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