Here in the United States (and in many other parts of this world as well) it is not unlikely that you will suffer from vision problems at some point in your life. Some of them are hereditary, and some come with age. Some can even come from damages that your eyes have sustained. But no matter what the cause of your vision problems, it’s always important to treat them seriously, to wear the proper eye wear and to visit and eye specialist on a regular basis to decide what type of eye care you need and what type of eye wear is right for you.

When it comes to eye wear, it’s likely that you’ll wear glasses at some point in your life. In fact, more than half of the adult population of the United States – more than 64% of it, as a matter of fact – wears some type of eye wear that has been prescribed to them. But eye wear can also include contact lenses, which can be ideal from an aesthetic standpoint or for those who just don’t like the feel of actual eye wear. And while back in the day contact lenses weren’t necessarily ideal for everyone to wear due to the nature of their eye care needs, contact lenses have now become more advanced than ever before – and therefore more widely utilized.

When you visit on optometrist for eye care, it’s likely because you are nearsighted. After all, this is one of the predominant visual problems seen throughout the country and likely throughout the world. As a matter of fact, more than 40% (around 42%, to be more precise) of people between the ages of 12 and 54 here in the United States are nearsighted to some degree. In comparison, only about 5% to 10% of all people that fall within this age range are farsighted.

As any optician can tell you when they prescribe you with the right kind of eye wear, nearsightedness is typically not an affliction that sets in during adulthood. Typical nearsightedness is first developed and presented in younger years, sometimes in kids as young as eight but usually before they reach the age of 12. It can keep worsening throughout childhood but the progression of nearsightedness will stop, in the vast majority of cases, by the time a person reaches the age of 20.

Therefore, it is important for regular vision screenings to take place for all children. In some school districts, where resources for such things are allocated, vision screenings happen at least once throughout the year. This is hugely important, for children who are struggling to see and do not have the proper eye wear are more likely to struggle academically, as they simply cannot see the information that they need to be successful. Because of the lack of eye wear and the frustration that can all too easily and quickly originate from this, such children are also more likely to develop behavioral problems, which will likely only worsen if the vision problem isn’t caught. This is even thought to be the case for up to one quarter of all children here in the United States alone.

Of course, lifestyle choices can worsen vision problems as we age. As screen time becomes more and more necessary throughout the course of our days, our eyes have become, on a whole, sore and dry. This can cause vision problems but is also just uncomfortable to deal with. Fortunately, the use of technologies like eye wear that blocks blue light has shown a good deal of promise, and is something to continue to look into as our dependence on technology increases.

Protecting your eyes from the sun is equally as important, if not even more so. Unprotected eyes will suffer damages from UV rays much in the same way that our skin does and the impact of this can be quite devastating later on in life. Fortunately, all this requires is the wearing of sunglasses on a consistent basis – particularly high quality sunglasses that will block out the vast majority of UV light, as not all sunglasses have been made to do this.