Treatment could be avoided with early diagnosis, say 73% of optometrists

I received this infographic from Spectrum Thea,suppliers of eye drops and solutions. I’m not a huge fan of infographics but the info in this particular graphic was eye-catching. The statistics shouldn’t be a great surprise to my colleagues and me. As an industry, we know the issues, but when you see the figures presented like this, I still find it alarming.

The most shocking statistic, for me, is that 94% of optometrists think as a nation we don’t take our eye health seriously. That is an enormous figure. And the fact that 81% of optometrists believe that people only get their eyes tested when they experience problems or symptoms is also seriously worrying. The issue with the latter is reaffirmed with 73% of optometrists believing that their patients could have avoided treatment with earlier diagnosis and 80% of optometrists believe many of their patients could have slowed their symptoms by taking preventative measures if they had been diagnosed earlier with more regular eye tests.
I could find an abundance of similar views and statistics from the eye industry. So why do people still fail to have their eyes examined regularly? I think it’s largely down to people believing that if they can see well, their eyes are fine. What they don’t realise is that good vision does not go hand in hand with good eye health. The eye industry has a huge mountain to climb in educating the nation to think about their eye health.
Give your eyes the same care and attention that you give the rest of your body, and make use of the NHS subsidies on eye exams. As far as medical examinations go, an eye test has to be one of the least intrusive. Patients even get decent coffee at Cameron Optometry! So if we haven’t seen you in the last couple of years, please make an appointment to get a thorough once over.