This is your sign to get your eyes checked

Today is World Sight Day, and consider this your sign to get your eyes checked. It may not be something you think about often, but believe me: it is very important that you do. Eye conditions are often like silent assassins that strike slowly but effectively, and before you know it, it's too late and you have permanent damage to your eyes. And if you think: that won't happen to me, then I have confronting statistics for you. Each year, there are 2.2 million cases of eye conditions, eye diseases, or eye complaints. To add to that, eye diseases are expected to increase by 17 percent by 2030.

Living with an eye condition is not always easy, I can tell you from my own experience. I was born with one (almost) blind eye, and I also have various vague complications with that same eye. For example, that eye is a lot larger (under the skin) and was quite crooked. I have since had multiple surgeries on it, and you can hardly see it on me anymore. Sometimes that's a downside too, because an additional disadvantage is that I absolutely cannot see depth and can misjudge things in a very strange way. Because I was born this way, I have always been very attentive when my ‘good’ eye shows any abnormalities. For instance, for a few years now, I have been experiencing ‘mouches volantes’, which are floating spots in my field of vision. Apparently, this is part of aging, but it doesn't fit well with my Peter Pan syndrome. Additionally, I am now at -6 with this ‘good’ eye, which no longer really deserves the title ‘good’. No, I haven't exactly been lucky with my eyes.

The annoying thing about eye diseases is that you often can't see them from the outside. I can't even keep track of how many times people have looked at me strangely when I poured something completely crooked (because: no depth), why I still don't have my driver's license (again, that depth, I am a danger on the highway), or why I can't see anything coming from my right side (because: blind in that eye). In a way, I consider myself lucky that I have had this since birth, because I don't know any better. But still, being blind in one eye is quite annoying and I absolutely cannot recommend it. That's why it's important to be alert to changes in your vision or any pains: people can't see that from the outside, and only you can point it out to yourself.

Being early with eye diseases is very important. Therefore, it is wise to have your eyes checked regularly (even if you have no complaints). And maybe you are already experiencing some complaints, but do you brush them off? In any case, it is wise to pay attention to the following things and to get a check if you are experiencing a lot of:

• Reduced vision
• Blurry or double vision
• Difficulty focusing
• Pain in or around the eyes
• Sensitivity to light
• Poor vision in the dark
• Seeing spots
• Straight lines appear crooked or distorted
• Headaches

And where do you get a check? That can be at most Specsavers stores, which have started eye health examinations. Do it!