Eyes are precious to us. Seeing colors, faces, shapes and pictures is something we take for granted. Sight helps us explore our surroundings, appreciate beauty, and interact with others. It’s a sensory asset that keeps us safe because we can navigate terrain and gain understanding from what we observe. However, our vision can change as we grow older, due to nutrition, unhealthy habits, lack of exercise, disease or just simple aging.
At every age, we must be committed to taking care of our sight. Below is a guide to vision health at every age and the issues we might face.
INFANCY AND EARLY CHILDHOOD
It is never too young to start protecting your child’s sight and institute healthy eye habits. When a child is between six months and 12 months of age, vision screenings should begin. They should have follow-up screenings with an eye specialist every two years. The eye doctor will check children’s eyes for coordination, ability to fixate, alignment, responsiveness and overall function. These screenings can help catch hereditary or congenital eye diseases. They can also identify eye infections. According to the Children’s Eye Foundation, 80 percent of vision problems in youth can be corrected if identified early.
Amblyopia
Lazy eye, which occurs due to misalignment of the eyes or refractive errors, is a common childhood eye issue. If identified before age 10, this condition is often corrected. After that, the child may suffer some permanent loss of vision. Watch for symptoms of amblyopia in your child, which include squinting, double vision, faulty depth perception and frequently bumping into objects.
Astigmatism
If a child experiences blurriness when trying to view distant or nearby objects, it may be a sign that they have astigmatism, which occurs when the curvature of the cornea is uneven. This affects how light enters the eyes and how well the retina can focus.
Epiphora
Epiphora, commonly known as childhood tearing, may happen right after a child is born or any time during infancy due to improper tear drainage. Tear sac massages and eye drops are helpful treatments that can correct this problem.
Development Abnormalities
When a child is in the womb, the visual system may not develop properly. There may be incomplete development of the optic nerve, known as hypoplasia. There could be small eye, known as microphthalmia. There could also be coloboma, a hole in the iris, retina or optic disc. All of these pediatric concerns could lead to a loss of vision and should be diagnosed by an eye specialist.
Pediatric Cataract
Cataracts are not just for older people. Many children develop a cloudiness over the eye lens that can prevent light from getting to the retina, resulting in blurred sight. This can occur at birth and during early childhood but may be corrected through surgery.
Pediatric Ptosis
Ptosis is when the upper eyelid droops. This can be a congenital condition due to weak eye muscles. It is often corrected through surgery. Other conditions that children may suffer include genetic eye diseases, pediatric glaucoma, nearsightedness and farsightedness.
TEENAGE YEARS
Preteens and teens should have strong visual acuity, eye tracking and hand-eye coordination. All this can come in handy as teens participate in extracurricular activities at school, especially sports.
However, eye problems can develop in the teen years that can prevent good vision. If your teen complains of eye stress, rubs their eyes excessively or blinks too much, it’s time for a visit to the eye doctor. The same is true if a teen complains of headaches when reading or covers the eye to read. Often these problems can be corrected by glasses, contacts or eye exercises.
Teens often neglect to eat healthily, avoiding greens and other veggies like carrots, which can support vision by supplying necessary vitamins.
Here are the eye problems witnessed in many teens:
UV Light Damage
Before a child is 18, they might develop eye damage from ultraviolet rays. The ocular lenses in young eyes are not fully developed and cannot endure extreme sunlight the way adults can. Eye damage from UV rays can be avoided by having teens wear sunglasses when playing in the sun, especially when near reflective surfaces like snow or even water and sand, such as during visits to the beach. They should also wear protective eyewear or goggles when playing sports.
Severe eye burn from the sun is called photokeratitis. Eye burn from when sunlight bounces off the snow is called snow blindness. Both of these radiation injuries can lead to temporary loss of vision that lasts a few hours or days.
Scratched Cornea
Many teens suffer scratched corneas due to wearing contacts or sports-related injuries. This can create the sensation there is something is the eye when there isn’t. The eye might develop sensitivity to light, redness or wateriness as a result. Special eye drops can usually heal this problem.
Conjunctivitis
Also known as pink eye, conjunctivitis may occur when bacteria, a virus or an allergen gets in the eye, due to interactions with infected people or substances, like eye makeup or lenses that have germs. Teens should make a practice of washing their hands before touching their eyes and sanitizing anything that comes in contact with the eye.
Dry Eye Syndrome
Evaporative eye disease, where the meibomian gland malfunctions, can lead to dry eye in teens and preteens, but is often overlooked.
Herpes Simplex Eye Infection
Many people suffer their first herpes infection during their teen years and this can lead to an eye infection, characterized by itching, burning, redness or blisters on the eyelid. This condition is usually treated with ointments, drops or pills.
Blunt Trauma Injuries from Sports
Scores of teens who play basketball, baseball, racquetball and water sports end up at the eye doctor after a ball or person hits them in the eye. These traumas can lead to broken bones beneath the eyeball, a broken eyeball, eye cuts or a detached retina.
YOUNG ADULT: 20s TO 40s
At age 20, the eyes are reaching maturity. This is when your eyesight might be at its best. For young adults, it’s important to consume foods high in antioxidants to protect your retinas and to avoid alcohol and smoking, which can wreak havoc on them. Try to develop a lasting exercise regimen, which will increase blood circulation to organs like your eyes.
Because young adults use digital devices throughout the day, they are exposed to lots of blue light. Be sure to keep the eyes lubricated and take a break from computer screens every half an hour. Also, eat lots of foods with zeaxanthin and lutein, which can help filter blue light.
Diabetic Retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy can start as early as age 20 but can affect anyone up to age 74. This condition typically manifests in patients who have had diabetes for five to 15 years. The use of insulin and the presence of hypertension have been linked to this eye disease.
Eyestrain
Eyestrain, accompanied by sore eyes, burning eyes or focusing problems can come when young adults begin working on the job. They may spend long hours reading or working on a computer. These problems can be avoided by adjusting lighting, taking breaks and using glare screens.
Pinpoint Pupils
Reduced pupil size can occur in young adults and middle-aged people for a number of reasons, including the use of opioids, high blood pressure, brain hemorrhages, eye inflammation or exposure to chemicals.
MIDDLE AGE: LATE 40s to 50s.
During middle age, health conditions like hypertension and diabetes might manifest, which can lead to eye problems. At this age, people should try to remain active and get lots of sleep to rest the eyes.
Presbyopia
People in their 40s and above often suffer from presbyopia, commonly referred to as farsightedness. This condition is characterized by a thickening and stiffening of the eye lens, which reduces the ability to focus. Often accompanied by eye fatigue, headaches and eye strain, prebyopia will make it hard to see close print or objects.
If you are having difficulty reading small print in your text messages or emails, it might be time to get your eyes professionally checked by an eye doctor to see if you are suffering from this problem. You likely will find yourself holding reading material farther away to see it better. There are solutions, such eyeglasses and contact lenses, which can improve distance vision. There are also surgical options, such as a corneal inlay that can correct vision loss.
Vitreous Detachment
Once in your 50s and older, you might notice shadows, floaters or spots in your field of vision. This is a sign that you might have vitreous detachment, which is when the gel-like substance known as the vitreous detaches from the retina. People with nearsightedness are especially at risk for this. An eye specialist can perform a dilated eye exam to check for this.
SENIOR YEARS: 60s, 70s, 80s AND HIGHER
In the senior years, it is normal for vision to decline and change. You might need brighter lighting when you read, need to sit closer to the TV or need to get a stronger eyeglass prescription. Visiting an optometrist can help you stay active and independent as you age and combat any of the eye issues below.
Macular Degeneration
During their 60s, people might develop macular degeneration, a condition which causes the macula or middle of the retina to degrade, leading to blurriness or blindness in the center of one’s field of vision. This can affect our ability to recognize someone’s face, enjoy TV, surf on a laptop or read.
With this condition the macula thins or may develop a growth of blood vessels beneath it; these vessels often leak and affect sight. It is considered the leading cause of sight loss in senior citizens.
If you smoke, have high blood pressure or are obese, you are at greater risk for developing this disease. You can protect yourself by trying to eat healthily, lose weight, and attend regular eye exams with your optometrist or ophthalmologist.
Macular degeneration may be the wet form, which is characterized by fluid leaks from blood vessels. This can be treated by laser surgery, anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy or photodynamic therapy, all of which may slow the progression of macular degeneration.
Dry macular degeneration, accompanied by a thinning macula or yellowish pigment inside the macula due to deteriorating tissue, may be treated by nutritional supplements.
Glaucoma
Elderly people might experience vision loss accompanied by nerve cell damage in the back of their eyes due to pressure that builds up in the eye; this is the reality of having glaucoma. It cannot be cured, but if caught early by an eye exam, it can be managed through eye drops that relieve pressure on the eyes.
Cataracts
Studies show that nearly 50 percent of people aged 80 and older suffer from cataracts. This condition may start as early as age 65. Cloudiness on the eye lens, called cataracts, can blur vision and make colors seem faded. Cataracts can cause bright lights to appear with halos and a glare. They can also lead to double vision. An eye exam can help you catch this condition early and treat it with eyeglasses, sunglasses, magnifying lenses, or surgery.
Loss of Peripheral Vision
People in their 80s may notice that their peripheral vision has declined by as much as 30 percent. In fact, you might notice your vision field shrinking a little bit with every decade of life. This can make it difficult for seniors to drive carefully because they might not notice all the hazards or obstacles on the road.
Loss of Color Vision
As you get older, retina tissue that support seeing colors might degrade. Colors will seem faded and washed out; you might not be able to distinguish between similar colors.
Dry Eyes
Older patients typically produce fewer tears, especially women who have undergone menopause. This can lead to dry eyes that sting and hurt, but artificial tears can usually fix this.
Tips on Protecting Eyes
• Main normal blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure.
• Watch your weight
• Eat omega-3 fatty acids
• Avoid junk food
• Don’t smoke
• Wear sunglasses when outside on sunny days.
Eyes are very personal to us. Maintaining proper vision care at all ages is so crucial. Make sure you have an eye specialist in your corner so that you can maintain your quality of life and be productive no matter what eye problems you are facing.