Outandabout March 2022 Issue195
Welcome to March 2022 the Spring air has arrived and St Patrick's day will be celebrated again in Benidorm without restrictions. Tourism is already back to pre-covid numbers and the British holidaymakers who love Spain and the Costa Blanca are already on the beach and sunny terraces eating, drinking, and having lots of fun in the sun. The new Out and About magazine is right here to read and find out what's going on in the Costa Blanca region of Spain. Lifestyle and leisure articles and reviews are written by the people who know, business professionals, and members of the public living in Spain. There are also popular pages that include puzzles and horoscopes with a host of supporting businesses that supports the charity work that editor Carol Leavy has undertaken for many years in Spain.
Welcome to March 2022 the Spring air has arrived and St Patrick's day will be celebrated again in Benidorm without restrictions. Tourism is already back to pre-covid numbers and the British holidaymakers who love Spain and the Costa Blanca are already on the beach and sunny terraces eating, drinking, and having lots of fun in the sun. The new Out and About magazine is right here to read and find out what's going on in the Costa Blanca region of Spain. Lifestyle and leisure articles and reviews are written by the people who know, business professionals, and members of the public living in Spain. There are also popular pages that include puzzles and horoscopes with a host of supporting businesses that supports the charity work that editor Carol Leavy has undertaken for many years in Spain.
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12 | OUT AND ABOUT COSTA BLANCA<br />
How often should you<br />
get your eyes checked?<br />
DR. M. ISABEL SIGNES-SOLER<br />
Eye care professionals recommend that<br />
you have an eye exam every one to<br />
two years. This may vary depending<br />
on your age, risk factors and whether you<br />
wear eyeglasses or contacts. Though vision<br />
screenings are sometimes done for kids at<br />
school, eye exams are still important.<br />
Vision screenings may find a vision issue in<br />
your child, but they aren’t a substitute for a<br />
comprehensive eye exam. An exam is more<br />
in-depth, can catch problems a screening<br />
may miss, and can find the underlying cause<br />
behind issues a screening does identify.<br />
How often children should get an eye exam<br />
Experts say approximately 80% of all learning<br />
comes from visual pathways. Yet one in<br />
four children with a correctable refractive<br />
error does not have it corrected properly. A<br />
University of Bristol study also discovered<br />
that brain-related visual problems likely affect<br />
one in 30 school-aged children.<br />
Because of this, it’s recommended that<br />
children have their first eye exam at 6 months<br />
of age. Another exam should be done at age<br />
three and again before the start of first<br />
grade. If a child is not at risk, they<br />
can continue having their eyes<br />
examined every year until age<br />
18.<br />
Children with risk<br />
factors for vision<br />
problems may need<br />
their first eye exam<br />
earlier than 6 months of<br />
age and may need eye<br />
exams more frequently<br />
throughout childhood.<br />
Children need regular<br />
eye exams to detect vision<br />
problems that may interfere<br />
with learning.<br />
Examples of risk factors include:<br />
• Family history of vision problems, such<br />
as myopia, strabismus, amblyopia,<br />
retinoblastoma or a genetic disease that<br />
affects the eyes<br />
• Prematurity or low birth weight<br />
• Difficult labor associated with fetal distress<br />
• Extended use of supplemental oxygen at<br />
birth<br />
• Infection of mother during pregnancy<br />
(examples: rubella, venereal disease, herpes,<br />
AIDS)<br />
• Developmental delays<br />
• Functional vision in only one eye<br />
• Maternal smoking, drinking or drug use<br />
during pregnancy<br />
• Physical illness or diseases<br />
• Eye disorders such as high refractive error,<br />
strabismus and anisometropia<br />
• Health conditions associated with ocular<br />
conditions<br />
• Taking a medication with ocular side effects<br />
Children who currently wear eyeglasses or<br />
contact lenses should also have annual eye<br />
exams.<br />
How often adults should get an<br />
eye exam<br />
To maintain a lifetime<br />
of healthy vision,<br />
adults ages 18 to<br />
60 should have a<br />
comprehensive<br />
eye exam at least<br />
once every two<br />
years. Older<br />
adults (ages 65<br />
and older) should<br />
have annual eye<br />
exams. “At risk”<br />
adults should have<br />
an exam at least<br />
once every year, or as<br />
recommended by their<br />
doctor.<br />
Dra. Maria Isabel Signes-Soler, PhD, FAAO • Tel: 965832080