This week is National Eye Health Week and its always important to know how to take care of your eyes and what can happen if you don’t.

It is recommended that you get your eyes tested every 1-2 years or whenever you sense a change in your vision. There are benefits from getting your eyes tested other than checking to see how your vision is, eyesight tests can detect other diseases that you previously may have not known about.

Eye examinations can detect diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure even if you’re sure you may not have them. By viewing the blood vessels in the retinas of your eyes, early signs of high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, can be seen by the optometrist. Similarly, symptoms stemming from diabetes can be seen with an eye exam, anyone with type 1 or type 2 diabetes is at risk of developing diabetic retinopathy which can lead to blindness if it is undiagnosed and untreated.

Diabetic retinopathy doesn’t have any early-stage noticeable symptoms, much like glaucoma, so it can be difficult to realise that you may be suffering from something else. With more than two million people in the UK suffering from sight loss, and around 340,000 of these registered as blind or partially sighted, it is important to seek medical advice or get your eyes checked to see if there are any signs of damage or other diseases not known about.

At Bush Opticians, we offer a variety of treatment and exams including OCT or Optical Coherence Tomography which is an advanced eye scan that uses light to photograph the different layers that make up the structures of the eye, creating a 3D image.

Visit us in-store and speak to a member of our team to find out more about what we offer.

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