Healthy Life
What about Mom’s Eyes? Many moms are so busy looking after their children and families that their own annual appointments are left until last. With something as important as vision, this is of course not the ideal. World Glaucoma Week falls in the second week of March and is a good reminder for each of us to be more aware of preventable vision loss. Glaucoma is a condition where a person develops narrow vision or blind spots in their vision that develop over time. This is often (but not always) associated with raised pressure inside the eye and without early diagnosis and management, it can become fairly progressed before the person realises it. Eye pressure is measured by an optometrist or ophthalmologist and is usually not felt by the person themselves.
Joanne Kalil & René van den Heever
OptOmetriStS
Special interests Children’s Vision & Low Vision Joanne & René welcome Elmarie Grendele to the practice who (as well as the low vision and children’s vision assessments) will concentrate on adult eye-care.
031 563 6994 • info@familyeyecare.co.za
6 St Andrew’s House, 52 St Andrew’s Dr, Durban North
www.familyeyecare.co.za
Hearing Health Professionals: JA Cardona & CJ McKay
SERVICES OFFERED: • Diagnostic Hearing Assessments/Tests • Free Hearing Aid Trials • Hearing Aid Fittings • Speech Therapy • FM-Systems • Diagnostic ABR • Diagnostic OAE
Luckily, preventative treatment can be very effective in stabilising and lowering the eye pressure and holding back further visual loss. Early diagnosis is of course therefore the goal.
Unit 3, Burnside, 1 Builders Way, Hillcrest, Tel: 031 - 765 5567, Fax: 031 - 765 5086, E-mail: juliecardona@telkomsa.net www.juliecardona.co.za
While glaucoma screenings are done on people of all ages and are recommended at regular intervals, this becomes even more important after the age of 40, when they should be done at least annually.
✓ General Practitioner ✓ Sports Physician ✓ Travel Clinic ✓ Aviation Medicals (Senior AME) ✓ Insurance Medicals ✓ Business Executive Medicals ✓ Diving & Seafarers’ Medicals ✓ Occupational Health Medicals
With the impact that vision has on all aspects of a person’s life, work and independence, I would certainly recommend an annual visual examination with your optometrist, with particular emphasis on looking for early signs of glaucoma.
Suite 102, Ingenuity House, 325 Umhlanga Rocks Drive (next to Umhlanga Hospital) Mon - Fri: 7:30am - 6pm; Sat: 8am - 12pm deena@drdg.co.za | www.sportsandtravelclinic.co.za
DR DG GOVENDER
Tel: 031 566 2066 | Cell: 083 661 4332
If you have any queries do contact your local optometrist. It really is up to each of us to take care of, and be responsible for, our vision. Source: Joanne Kalil, Optometrist in Durban North, 031 – 563 6994. www.mumsmail.com
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