Eye health isn’t something I’ve discussed on the blog before, but it’s actually something I’m pretty passionate about. Apart from the fact I have generally terrible eyesight, when I was in my early 20s I damaged my left eye and my sight in that eye is permanently damaged.
The damage was my own fault really, I wore contact lenses while wakeboarding. If you wear contact lenses, DO NOT wear them when swimming or doing water sports!! I got water in my eye and ended up with a bad infection.
I spent a week in hospital and have been left with a scarred eye.
Thankfully, I still have my right eye and it works hard to compensate. As my eyesight is so bad, I’m very conscious of keeping my one ‘good’ eye as healthy as possible.
So when Leighton Opticians invited me in to try out their ‘ultimate eye test’ I was more than interested. Their standard eye test includes free retinal photography (taking pictures of your eye) and their ‘ultimate’ eye test also includes OCT scans (optical coherence tomographers… obviously).
This scan is basically like an ultrasound for your your eye and can pick up eye conditions and potential problems five years earlier than traditional tests.
The experience
The first step of the eye test was to have the scans and photos taken of my eyes. This was all totally non-invasive and painless, you just look into a machine while it does its thing. Then I went next door and had the actual sight test.
This was the first time I had been into Leightons Opticians for a sight test (although my frames are from here!) and I was impressed with just how thorough it was. Jenny (my optician) was so lovely and explained everything.
By the end of it I found out that my sight had gotten slightly worse (new prescription needed) and that my right eye was a little dry and irritated.
Jenny explained that if this started causing discomfort I could book a ‘dry eye’ assessment where they would talk me through treatment options (including how to naturally encourage better tear flow).
She emphasised the importance of looking after my right eye and went on to talk me through the scans and photographs.
Thankfully, everything from the scans was all good and my eyes were nice and healthy! When I next have an eye test, they’ll be able to take more scans and then compare to see if there’s any change - this is how they can predict future eye health problems.
The cost
Of course, as interesting as the whole experience was I can’t gloss over the fact that this test costs £69 and I know not everyone would be happy to pay this.
I personally would pay for this (and I will next time I’m due a test). As I mentioned, I’m working with one ‘good’ eye, so investing this money is a no-brainer for me. To have that peace of mind is worth it.
If you have family history of sight-related conditions (or your eyesight is as dodgy as mine) I would definitely recommend it. In the grand scheme of things, £69 every couple of years is a drop in the ocean, especially when it’s supporting your health.
Have you ever had any eye-health scares?
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