How to make life easier when you have low vision?

You carry on with your usual daily chores, and then all of a sudden, your vision starts faltering. You notice your eyesight has gone worse even when you are wearing your glasses. It makes you troubled. Even though medical services are sky-high priced, you still go for an eye test. And the verdict, it’s age. You are growing old, and your vision is reducing. You have AMD, glaucoma or any other age-related eye disease.

With age, low vision is natural. What is low vision? It is an eye condition when you have lower visibility, even with your glasses or contacts. Your vision keeps getting worse with time. It cannot be corrected with prescription glasses, contact lenses or Lasik surgery. You are not blind but have limited vision. Some symptoms of low vision are

1. Blind spots,
2. Blurry vision and double vision,
3. Night blindness
4. Reduced visual acuity,
5. Contrast sensitivity,
6. Eye misalignment,
7. Poor judgment of depth,
8. Glare sensitivity,
9. Confusion when performing visual tasks,
10. Difficulty reading,
11. Headaches and dizziness,
12. Abnormal body posture, and balance problems.

If you suffer any of these symptoms, you should seek medical help. Go for a comprehensive eye test and know what is causing your low visual acuity. If you live in Manchester or nearby, our opticians in Bury can help you with your eye tests. Do not delay your tests as they can further aggravate your condition.

Vision is crucial. You do every work depending on your eyesight. Living without your vision is terrible and indeed challenging. It takes away your independence. You will have to rely on others for your daily activities. You have trouble finding your things in the morning. Walking around becomes difficult as you keep stumbling with things. Going up and down the stairs becomes daunting. You have a constant need of calling someone for help. And if you live alone, you are out to fend for yourself.

When to go for an eye test?

Eye tests are expensive. On average it can cost you £20- £30. And glasses are even more costly. You hardly go for an eye test or get eyeglasses with your updated prescription. This continues and makes your eyesight weaker down the years.

According to opticians worldwide, you should get an eye test done every two years. This helps keep track of your eye conditions and even take necessary treatment if some eye disease is detected early.

Getting regular eye tests can alert you about incurable or any eye condition you are developing. Glaucoma is incurable; however, with treatment, vision loss can be limited.

NHS in the UK gives relief with eye tests. NHS provides free eye tests for people over age 60. If you fall under this group, you can get your eyes tested and even avail yourself of many medical assistants at discounted prices.

NHS also gives free eye test for those over 40 with glaucoma or those who have high chances of developing glaucoma. Check out the eligibility criteria and get the benefit for your eyes.

Live better even with Low vision.

Life goes on. Even if you have low vision or any vision impairment, your life doesn’t stop. So, you should not stop as well. Stagnation is death. You can still carry on your daily activities with confidence. So, how to live better with low vision? Here’s how -

Injury Proof your home

You injury-proof your home when you have kids. You will prefer to keep rounder edge furniture so that they don’t get hurt while frolicking around. Some extreme parents even bubble wrap the whole house. You arrange and keep things so that kids cannot easily find something they are not supposed to.

Why not do it for yourself? You have only gotten old. You will drop dead someday, just like everyone else.

You can bring in some new furniture and make your home more injury proof. Splurge if you want. Sometimes shopping can be exhilarating. Go for it and modify your home according to your new needs.

After you are done shopping, arrange your home in a way that facilitates your movement. Do not put everything inline or in a haphazard manner. If possible, take help from experts or call your friends (smart ones) to help you arrange your furniture. And don’t forget about stray wires (cables of appliances or your laptop charger). Even with good enough vision, I trip on these wires. So be careful with them. Better tape them up away from view and your feet.

Modify the Lights

White glowing ceiling light looks great but not that great for your ageing eyes. Too much light falling on your eyes can make your eyes tired and strained. Use more floor or table lamps and fewer ceiling lights.

Move to warm yellow lights. These lights will make the room a bit warmer, but they emit less blue light than the white lights. Blue lights strain your eyes. Reduce blue light as much as possible.

Arrange your mirrors and reflecting surfaces in a way that they do not create a glare or reflections. And use adequate lighting in hallways and stairs. Stairs are the most accident prone area of the home. So take more care in making that area accident-proof.

Magnifying lenses

Get some magnifying lenses. These tools were fun when you were a kid. Now keep a few handy for you to see something minute.

Organise and label

One friend of mine likes labelling her things. When I went to her, she had marked drawers telling what contained what. There was no sense of mystery. Not to mention, everything was in a very systematic way. I made fun of her OCD, but in hindsight, I liked the idea. I keep losing my things, and labelling cabinets was a very systematic way of handling things.

You can do the same. Maybe use various colours when labelling or raised markings that you can never miss. Mark your everyday appliances. You can mark your washing machine with symbols to know which button is for what.

Voice assistant

What are Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant for? Use any voice assistant and get by your daily activities effortlessly. If you love reading books, get them in audio format. You can enjoy the story in a better way without straining your eyes.

Guide dogs

A dog is a man’s best friend. An ancient saying which actually holds value. Whether you are a man, woman or anyone, you can get along if you have pets around. They can help with your mood. You will not feel depressed with them around, and also, they help with getting around. You will not have to worry about hitting your pink toe on the edge of the table or falling down.

Specialists

Ask for help. It’s not shameful to ask for help. Get help from specialists if you are facing problems in your daily life. There are many vision impaired support services. Take help with making your home low vision friendly and even medical assistance for your vision problems. With their services, you can keep doing things you always loved.

What to do when you cannot find your glasses?

Living with vision impairment or low vision is not easy. But not impossible. Get help. Change your surroundings and modify as much as possible to facilitate your living. You can live independently and get by with dignity.

Even when you cannot find your glasses and feel extremely frustrated and heartbroken. Don’t. Take a deep breath. Retrace your steps and try to remember what you did before. It works every time.