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Looking after your children’s eye health is not just important for helping them to progress at school with tasks such as reading and writing, it is also important to establish good eye health habits early to remain as healthy as possible throughout their life. Here are some of the top tips for taking care of your children’s eye care: Regular eye tests The NHS recommends that you get your eyes checked at least every two years and making sure your child has regular eye tests will help to resolve any common childhood conditions such as lazy eye or squinting. The earlier these types of conditions are picked up, the sooner they can get treatment and there is a better chance

Having two pairs of glasses might seem like an unnecessary expense but if you have ever found yourself in a situation where you really need a second pair, you will know exactly why it is a very worthwhile cost. Glasses are an item that can easily get damaged and are also small enough to regularly misplace. If you rely on your glasses for reading, driving or any other everyday activity then you are never too far away from a big problem if you do not have a second pair. Here are some of the key benefits of having a second pair of glasses: Accidents happen Even the best quality glasses are prone to getting broken, either from getting dropped, sat

Opticians are reporting an increase in diagnosing children with short-sightedness (myopia) since the start of the pandemic. With children spending less time outside due to lockdown restrictions, more time spent on screens and a decrease in the number of eye tests being booked throughout the last year, with over 6 million appointments being postponed, myopia is on the increase. Whilst screens don’t cause any damage to your eyes, prolonged near activities like looking at a screen can cause the eyes to feel uncomfortable and tired, causing fatigue. The College of Optometrists are calling for parents to encourage children to play outside for at least 2 hours a day. This is proven to prevent the development of myopia. This is due

When you have high blood pressure, this increases the risk of several health problems. One aspect of your health that a lot of people do not realise is linked to their blood pressure is their eyesight. People may not realise they have high blood pressure . As your eyes have some of the smallest blood vessels in your body the effects of persistent high blood pressure can be seen early by an Optician’ If not kept under control high blood pressure can have serious complications for your eyes and vision . Fortunately, there are many ways that you can manage your blood pressure to avoid any of the potential health risks associated with high blood pressure. This includes: Weight management

Not many people look forward to the colder weather that winter brings; with fewer hours of daylight and cold, dark nights, it can be a fairly miserable time of year. As well as affecting your mood, the weather can also have several health implications such as painful joints and a lot of colds and flu start to circulate more when the temperature drops. Another weather-related issue that people have to contend with is the effect that the weather has on eye health, so it is important to look out for signs of eye problems and know how to keep your eyes protected throughout the cold weather. The most common eye problems to look out for are: Dry eyes Dry eyes

At Harrolds, we like to think of our customers as being part of the family. We enjoy getting to know each and every person who comes through our door. We firmly believe that providing a personalised, friendly service is the best way to ensure we can deliver the highest standard of eye care. Providing a personalised service Building up that long-term relationship has many benefits in taking care of your eyes, as it means we can quickly spot changes and we know all about the history of your eye health. All of our staff members are highly trained to deliver a first-class service, going the extra mile for our customers whenever we have the opportunity to. As an independent optician,

We are often asked whether reading can affect eye health and the simple answer is yes, reading can affect your eyesight. For example, if reading in the dark, you can cause eye strain but studies have confirmed that this will not permanently affect your eyesight. Whether you are reading a book, or you are reading from a screen, if you are doing so for prolonged periods then you are likely to be causing some strain to your eyes. Research shows that reading from a screen tends to strain eyes because you blink less often whilst reading and this can also cause dry eye. The same applies if you are reading without your prescribed glasses, as your eyes will need to

For a variety of different reasons, children are often reluctant to wear their glasses. In some cases, the glasses may feel uncomfortable to wear or children might not want to wear glasses at school for fear of looking different from their peers. However, if children don’t wear their glasses when they need to, they may suffer from disadvantages in learning and may also compromise their quality of life by not experiencing the better vision that wearing glasses enables. If you are struggling to persuade your child to wear their glasses, these are some ideas that other parents have had success with: Ensure they fit comfortably It is really important that the glasses fit comfortably and your optometrist should spend the

Even with 20:20 vision or the best quality glasses and the right prescription, optical illusions are going to catch you out. Don’t worry if these ones are not quite as they seem: Professor David Novick has created many optical illusion pieces and this one is a favourite: Source: Flickr What colour are the balls? They are actually all the same colour! Lego illusion What is going on with this one? Are the bricks going upwards from the bottom corner or downwards from the top? Source: Flickr One vase or two faces? Source: Flickr These squares don’t look parallel, but are they? Source: Flickr Can you see dots where the corner of each box meets? How can that happen? Source: Flickr Just a triangle made out