This is your Road trip check list for eyes!
The upcoming winter school holidays are a popular time for a break away family holiday. For many holiday makers this means driving long distances and coping with heavy volumes of traffic on what are often wet and dark roads. According to an international study by the Vision Impact Institute, 59% of road accidents can be attributed to poor eyesight. Furthermore, 23% of drivers worldwide have untreated eye conditions and are a potential danger to themselves and other road users. According to the International Transport Forum’s 2013 Road Safety Annual Report, exceptionally high levels of road accidents cost the South African economy more than R300-bilion a year, ranking our roads the worst out of the 36 countries polled. Good eyesight is therefore vital to any road travel.
Having a Mellins i-Style Zeiss Experience eye test at one of the new Mellins-Zeiss Vision Centres countrywide is a great health check before taking to the roads this winter. During the Zeiss Experience, approximately 2 500 points on your eyes are mapped in less than 90 seconds to create a unique ‘fingerprint’ of the eye. The resulting lens, namely Zeiss i.Scription, offers up to 30% improvement in night vision, in low light and colour and contrast judgement – four times more accurate than any other lens available – according to Zeiss.
Mellins i-Style, a leading national chain of optometrists, has the following tips and information to help you maintain excellent vision, especially when planning your trip this winter.
Road trip check list for eyes:
• Ensure your prescription lenses are up-to-date. According to the SA road safety awareness organisation, Arrive Alive (AA), it is a legal requirement for motorists to be able to read a number plate from at least 20.5m and have a 120 degree wide field of vision. Today, more than 10% of South Africans fail their driver’s license test because their eyesight does not measure up to the requirements. Vision screenings at driving tests however, cannot substitute a professional eye examination performed by a medical professional.
• It is a good idea to keep a second pair of glasses in your vehicle. Drivers in France and other European countries must, by law, keep a spare pair in their vehicles if they are prescription lens wearers.
• If you have separate pairs of spectacles glasses with tinted and non-tinted lenses, keep both within easy reach. In winter, it gets dark much earlier at night and the mornings remain dark for longer, so driving with tinted lenses at these times can put your safety at risk.
• Keep your vehicle’s windshield clean inside and out.
…and night time driving?
• Again, make sure your vehicle’s windshield is streak-free on both surfaces.
• Lenses worn at night should be clean. An anti-reflective coating can help lessen glare and the strenuous effects of lights from oncoming vehicles. Zeiss I scription lenses can improve night vision by up to 30% – according to Zeiss.
• Before a long evening or early morning trip, check that your headlights are clean and aligned. This is important for reducing glare in front of the vehicle.
According to Andre Horn, a senior optometrist and managing director at Mellins i-Style, regular eye examinations are important, regardless of one’s age or overall health. “During an eye test, an optometrist doesn’t just examine the quality of your vision, whether you need spectacles, contact lenses or an adjusted prescription. An eye test will also include a general health check for injury, abnormalities and early signs of eye conditions and diseases before you’re aware of any symptoms”, says Horn.
Optometrists are often the first health care professionals to detect chronic systemic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol.
How does caffeine affect your vision on the road?
Many people start their day with a steaming cup of coffee and are not aware of its effects on their eyesight. Numerous studies have associated caffeine with eye diseases and health issues. Caffeine is naturally produced from cocoa beans, coffee beans and tea. It is a stimulant that provides a spike of energy, triggers the fight-or-flight response and the release of adrenaline.
In a report by The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, it was found that people who consumed more than three cups of coffee a day have an increased risk of glaucoma and vision loss. Glaucoma is an eye condition that damages the eye’s optic and is one of the main causes of low vision and blindness. The report does not demonstrate the link between caffeinated drinks other than coffee and glaucoma.
Yet, it is still proven that these types of beverages can cause restlessness, heart palpitations, anxiety and a sudden drop in blood sugar level which later lead to drowsiness and fatigue. This does not mean that you need to give-up your prime brew. A moderate amount does not necessarily affect your vision. Minimising your coffee intake to two cups a day can give you the boost you need, keep energy levels stable and will have no serious, long-term effects on your vision.
WINTER EYE CARE MYTHS DISPELLED
Health and wellbeing are top-of-mind topics that are debated daily and it is easy to make common presumptions and misunderstandings about how our eyes can be affected in winter.
Here are some interesting facts from Mellins i-Style about eye care:
Myth or fact? Does reading in poor light damage your eyes?
According to a recent US study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), reading in low light does not harm your eyes, but it is a good idea to wear the lenses that have been prescribed by your optometrist. Soft light can make reading more strenuous and the eyes tire quickly. When focusing on small details in poor light, two important parts of the eye, namely the ciliary muscle and photoreceptors start to work. Photoreceptors contain light-sensitive rods that are vital for image-forming vision at low light.
The rods need rhodopsin, a pigmented molecule that is needed for changing the eyes’ molecular configuration in order for them to focus in low light. This process makes it more difficult to read in low light conditions and the eyes are less relaxed. Horn advises to wear your prescribed lenses when necessary. “Your eyes lose their elasticity as you get older, making it difficult for your eyes to adjust to close or far distances”.
Be sure to take a break every few minutes, look away from your book to refresh your eyes and maintain a good reading rhythm.
Myth or Fact? Dry winter air negatively affects your eyes.
It is always important to get out into the fresh air as it is beneficial to the body’s organs. As the cornea (the transparent layer spanned across the front of the eye) does not have its own oxygen supply, the eyes rely on air from the environment. While it is important to expose your eyes to oxygen, the dry winter air can be harsh on your eyes.
On a dark and rainy day it is particularly difficult to avoid turning on the indoor air conditioning and heaters. Due to low humidity levels, the eyes easily become irritated, vision becomes blurred and in the long term, serious eye problems can occur. Cold weather does not have a damaging effect on the eyes as they have built-in defences including tears and squinting. In dry air conditions the eyes also become watery, but this is the body’s natural reaction to refreshing the eyes. “If this takes place often and over long periods, dryness can lead to hazy vision and harm the cornea”, says Horn.
Here are some ways to avoid eye damage in dry air conditions:
• Keep hydrated: While your eyes are open and the heaters are on, hydrate as often as possible.
• Keep eye drops nearby: Make sure you have artificial tears to help keep your eyes moist. Artificial tears supplement an additional tear layer and keeps tears from evaporating quickly.
• Blink: Remember to blink more if your eyes feel dry, particularly when you need to focus on a task for a long period, work in front of a digital screen or read a book. •
Pack in your sunnies: In winter, the sun’s rays and glare are equally as harsh as in summer, particularly with the sun’s reflections from wet surfaces. Make sure your sunglasses block at least 99% of UVA and UVB rays for full protection. Sunglasses as well as prescription lenses are also great for screening your eyes from the wind.
How to avoid eye damage from the winter sun:
In summer, one is often reminded of the damaging effects the sun’s UV rays have on the eyes. However, winter can also pack a punch when it comes to glare from the sun and damaging UV rays.
According to Horn, too much exposure to UV rays in summer or winter can lead to serious eye conditions including keratitis (inflammation of the cornea) and cataracts (clouding of the eye that makes it difficult to see).
Once the eyes are noticeably red, feel tender and are very sensitive to light, medical treatment and antibiotic eye drops are a must to prevent infection in the eyes. “The best solution for protecting your eyes against damaging rays are polarised lenses that can block 99% to 100% UVA and UVB radiation and absorb other detrimental light”, says Horn. Polarisation occurs when sunlight ‘ripples’ into various directions and hits a surface to cause a flux of light that reflects into one direction.
When reflected from surfaces such as the windshields of oncoming vehicles or wet roads, the polarised light can cause a blinding effect once it reaches your eyes. Polarised lenses eliminate much of these types of glare to improve contrast, make colours more brilliant and ensure outstanding vision, even under extreme light conditions. “These lenses also protect you from eye fatigue because your eyes no longer have to adjust to constantly changing light conditions”, says Horn.
For more eye care tips and advice visit www.mellins.co.za
Written on behalf of Mellins i-Style