Speaking of the eye doctor, when\u2019s the last time you visited one?\u00a0 If it\u2019s been a while, it\u2019s probably a good idea to make an appointment with an optometrist.\u00a0 Let\u2019s face it.\u00a0 You want to improve your reading speed, don\u2019t you?\u00a0 Well guess what?\u00a0 You need your eyes to make that happen.\u00a0 If your eyes aren\u2019t in the best shape they can be, your reading speed won\u2019t be as fast as it can be, either.<\/p>\n
I know most of you probably dislike going to the doctor.\u00a0 But the eye doctor is different.\u00a0 First of all, you get to keep your clothes on.\u00a0 And second, you don\u2019t have to step on the scale!<\/p>\n
All you do is sit back and let the technicians and the eye doctor use a bunch of fancy equipment to look at and test your eyes.\u00a0 During an exam, which generally lasts between 30 and 90 minutes, you can expect to discuss your eye and general health history with your doctor.\u00a0 You\u2019ll also have your eyes checked for visual acuity which basically involves seeing how far down the eye chart you can read.\u00a0 No doubt you\u2019ve done that before.<\/p>\n
The eye doctor will continue the exam by looking at your eyes to see how white they are and whether he notices any irregularities in your eyelids and other areas on or surrounding your eyes.\u00a0 He\u2019ll test the alignment and refraction of your eyes, how your pupils respond, and he\u2019ll also test for glaucoma.\u00a0 He\u2019ll also look closely at your retina and optic nerves.<\/p>\n
When the doctor\u2019s all done, he\u2019ll be able to provide an accurate diagnosis and suggest treatment options should any eye issues be uncovered.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t be surprised to hear your doctor talk about the importance of eating a nutritionally-balanced diet, getting regular exercise, and quitting bad habits like smoking.\u00a0 Like it or not, good vision depends on all this.<\/p>\n
A lot of my students wonder how often they should visit the eye doctor.\u00a0 Here\u2019s what the American Optometric Association recommends:<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re between the ages of 19 and 40, chances are your eyes are still healthy and you probably enjoy good vision.\u00a0 The biggest eye problems this age group experiences are those associated with injury, visual stress and exposure to the sun.\u00a0 As long as you take steps to avoid these problems, your vision should remain problem-free.<\/p>\n
But that doesn\u2019t mean you should skip the exams.\u00a0 People in this age group should schedule an eye exam at least every two years.\u00a0 Doing so is the best and easiest way to ensure continued eye health and detect eye problems early on when they\u2019re still easily treatable.<\/p>\n
Of course, if you have a family history of eye problems or if problems like high blood pressure and diabetes run in your family, you may need more frequent exams.\u00a0 That\u2019s something you can talk about with your eye doctor.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re between the ages of 41 and 60, development of vision problems is practically unavoidable.\u00a0 The most common is a diminished ability to clearly see up close, which is what you do when you read.\u00a0 This diminished ability will affect your ability to read printed material as well as information on your computer monitor.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, this is a problem that inevitably develops with age and usually continues to worsen.\u00a0 The good news is, it\u2019s easily treatable with prescriptive lenses.<\/p>\n
Other normal problems you might begin experiencing if you\u2019re part of this age group include a need for brighter light to help you see, the appearance of more glare, color perception changes, and diminished tear production.<\/p>\n
Again the recommendation for this age group is an eye examination every two years.\u00a0 During your examinations, your eye doctor will be on the lookout for signs of macular degeneration, glaucoma, and vision problems associated with prescription medications and other health issues from which you may suffer or that run in your family.\u00a0 If your job is visually demanding, let your eye doctor know so he can look for any signs that your work may be affecting your vision.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re over 60, annual eye examinations are recommended.\u00a0 From age 60 on, there\u2019s an increased risk of developing certain vision disorders including Age Related Macular Degeneration, Glaucoma, Diabetic Retinopathy, Cataracts, dry eye and Retinal detachment.\u00a0 Frequent examinations will detect these types of problems more easily than you\u2019ll be able to.<\/p>\n
Okay, that\u2019s enough about eye examinations.\u00a0 I realize my talk about eye examinations got us off the topic of ergonomics, but I had to bring it up.\u00a0 The truth is, it doesn\u2019t even make sense to attempt speed reading if your eyes aren\u2019t sharp and focused.\u00a0 I hope you got my message and that you schedule an eye examination \u2013 if you need one \u2013 straight away.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ll know you need one if you haven\u2019t had one in a while.\u00a0 You also should schedule one if words look fuzzy or blurry especially those close up, if your vision is faint or you have double vision, your eyes seem excessively dry or if you\u2019ve reached middle age.<\/p>\n
Having a professional look at your eyes is the only way you can be sure your eyes are ready for the challenge of helping your reading speed soar!<\/p>\n
Video Version of Post
\n[youtube]http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9hm9U7EElhE[\/youtube]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Speaking of the eye doctor, when\u2019s the last time you visited one?\u00a0 If it\u2019s been a while, it\u2019s probably a good idea to make an appointment with an optometrist.\u00a0 Let\u2019s face it.\u00a0 You want to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-speed-reading"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreeder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreeder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreeder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreeder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreeder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreeder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1194\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreeder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreeder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreeder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}