Men neglecting eye health

At Young Eyes we know Men are less likely to get their Eye health assessed. Men between the ages of 45 and 74 utilised the least level of optometric services in 2016, according to Medicare.

Most conditions causing vision loss that we see at Young Eyes can be treated. Failure to treat them can however stop healthy independent ageing.
According to a report commissioned by Vision 2020 Australia in 2009, vision loss puts you at three times the risk of developing depression. If not properly managed, it can also negatively impact your social connectedness and sense of independence, particularly if the loss of a driving license also occurs.
We are aware that in families the women usually organise the eye tests. If we want the males to live long healthy independent lives they need to get eye checks like everyone else.

Eye safety
Another eye health area in which men need to improve is eye safety.
In 2016, men accounted for 83% of the 11,078 of cases registered on the Medicare database in which optometrists removed a foreign body embedded in the eye.
Young Eyes highly recommends that you wear Australian standard safety glasses if you are going to be working in an environment, or with equipment, that generates debris such as wood cutting, carpentry, grinding, hammering, mowing or pruning. Safety glasses are available in clear, sunglass and prescription options for those who need to wear glasses for clear distance or near vision.

Don’t overlook eye health as an important factor to overall health and wellbeing.