www.womanthismonth.com May 2016 52 FEATURE | health & fitness We often read and hear about the importance of regular health check-ups as a way to prevent and control illnesses. But the majority of people, both men and women, tend to ignore their eyes and their eyesight, taking this delicate and intricate body part completely for granted. It would hardly be an understatement to say that we rely on our eyes to savour almost all of life’s experiences. It is thus important to pay attention to our peepers and occasionally give them some much-deserved attention. Pushpita Sengupta Patel is a professionally qualified optometrist and contact lens specialist who heads the retail operations at Optica, Bahrain’s well known eyewear boutique. She strongly recommends that all of us get an eye exam at least once a year. She says: “This is very essential, since it allows us to monitor any changes in refractive status or vision changes in the eye; as well as detecting early signs of any other ocular diseases.” For those who don’t remember the last time they visited an optometrist, a typical routine eye exam with an eye care professional starts with lifestyle questioning, analysing visual demands in different everyday situations, and also takes in distance and near sight correction and a colour vision test. An experienced optometrist will be able to make lifestyle-based recommendations for optimal vision correction and train customers on the correct and safe use of, and adaptation to, eyeglasses and contact lenses. So, I was curious to know the most common issues people face with their eyesight. Pushpita says: “Apart from the typical refractive errors that we come across every day, we frequently encounter an increased number of individuals suffering from Say Eye We load them with make-up, use them to stare incessantly at screens and relish this wonderful world through them. So, why do we not give our eyes the same tender loving care as the rest of our bodies, ponders Behnaz Sanjana.
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