If the year 2020 has taught us anything, it’s to prioritize our health – including eye health. And the best way to maintain good vision and gain insights into your overall well-being is to tap into your vision coverage and get a comprehensive eye exam.
With open enrollment season running through December for many, now is the time to weigh your vision coverage options through your employer to make sure you’re covered in 2021 and can meet all your eye health needs.
Insights into Overall Health
Glasses and contacts aren’t the only reasons to see your eye doctor. A comprehensive eye exam can also be a life-saving measure for people susceptible to chronic conditions. Via an eye exam, eye doctors can help detect early signs of problems, like diabetes and high cholesterol, sometimes years before other symptoms show. According to the American Diabetes Association, an annual eye exam is also a must for those already living with diabetes, offering a simple way to prevent or delay vision loss caused by the condition. To learn more, visit vsp.com to see how an eye doctor detected diabetes in a patient, helping her avoid a diabetic coma.
Digital Eye Strain
So, what’s another reason to get a comprehensive eye exam? Hint: You may be looking at one now — a screen. With news and entertainment at our fingertips via our phones, virtual work meetings and class sessions on computers, and more time spent in front of the TV binge-watching favorite shows, chances are, you and your family have experienced a major spike in screen time. Before shelter in place, American adults could spend 12 hours a day looking at screens. During early lockdowns, screen times were longer and didn’t include the usual breaks. Even now, many of us are still spending more time at home in front of screens. This means your eyes are being exposed to the blue light emitted from these screens, which may put you at risk for the impacts of digital eye strain, including headaches, blurry vision and severe dry eyes.
When you take advantage of your vision coverage at work, you can schedule an eye exam with your eye doctor to discuss ways to reduce symptoms. One way is to add an anti-reflective lens coating to your glasses like TechShield Blue, which reduces exposure to blue light and combats digital eye strain.
Awareness during COVID-19
An eye doctor can also share tips on how to protect your eyes and health amid the pandemic. Per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, touching surfaces and then touching your eyes isn’t thought to be the main way the coronavirus spreads, however you can potentially contract the virus this way, and in some cases, get pink eye. During an eye exam, your eye doctor can show you how to properly sanitize your hands, glasses and contacts correctly before touching your eyes.
For quick tips on choosing vision coverage, visit SeeMuchMore.com.
The reasons to get a comprehensive eye exam are clear. Eye exams help protect your vision and overall health. The first step toward safeguarding both is to sign up for vision coverage.
