By Michael Hutton 

Improve eyesight  by ensuring you have your eye health checked regularly by an optician would seem to be an obvious and simple message for people to agree with. However, a recent large scale international survey by leading eyecare company Bausch and Lomb which questioned 11,000 consumers across 11 major countries revealed that almost half of respondents would only attend an optician if they felt they had a problem. Yet contrast this with a response from 70 per cent of the survey population who admitted they would rather lose a limb or give up 10 years of their life than lose their eyesight. A similar percentage of respondents claimed that they were reasonably knowledgeable about their eye health.

Unsurprisingly, almost every eyecare professional across 26 countries also surveyed by Bausch and Lomb disagreed and their ability as clinicians to spot a wide range of other diseases which a patient may have where no evident symptoms have appeared is another reason why over and above checking eyesight a regular visit - at least every two years - to an eyecare professional is important. Equally, by not attending for regular eye health checks, people also miss out on the opportunity to learn about new treatments to improve eyesight  such as Overnight Vision Correction  for short-sightedness which is fast becoming a preferred alternative to glasses, daytime contact lenses and laser surgery.

According to Bausch + Lomb, 80 percent of visual impairment is preventative but the Company's Chief Medical Officer Dr Cal Roberts is concerned that this is not understood by the population at large: "While the majority of visual impairments are preventable when caught and treated early, clearly people around the globe are not seeing the importance of basic vision care and annual eye exams." Rather than just be tied to the possibility of being able to improve eyesight , eyecare professionals may be able to detect conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and heart-related problems well before the patient realises they may have a problem. And they can advise patients about the latest advances in treatment to correct or improve visual impairment.

Check if you are suitable for overnight ortho-k corrective contact lenses .