Your eyes are precious assets. But accidents happen, and emergencies can arise. Knowing how to respond to an eye emergency is crucial.

Your vision is critical to navigating the world and communicating with other people. According to scientists, children learn most of everything through observation—80 percent, to be precise. If you grew up with vision issues like myopia or astigmatism, you understand what it is like to struggle with vision. When you first get eyeglasses, you are in for an incredible day. You realize just how good you can see.

Most people experience eye or vision problems at one time or another. Some are minor and usually vanish independently, while others require specialist care. It is best to remember that some severe eye conditions do not cause any pain. Never ignore any symptoms to prevent damage to your eyes or, worse, permanent and complete blindness.  

Many eye conditions share similar symptoms, and this can sometimes make it difficult to determine which issue we’re suffering from. Without an accurate diagnosis from an eye doctor, it's difficult to know which treatments will be effective at reducing our symptoms. Two eye conditions that are most often confused with one another are dry eye and eye allergies.

Myopia, also known as nearsightedness, is a refractive eye problem. This means that it’s caused by a problem with the way that light enters and is refracted by your eyes. It’s very common, more common than any other eye condition in fact. It’s also progressive, which means that it will get worse without treatment. While it can develop at any age, it most often starts to appear during childhood when the eyes undergo a period of rapid growth.

Comprehensive eye exams should be viewed as an important part of our preventative care. Despite this, many people only visit their eye doctor when they start to experience problems with their vision or associated symptoms such as persistent headaches and dry eyes. However, by making sure that you attend regular comprehensive eye exams, not only could you prevent the onset of unpleasant, painful, and even debilitating symptoms, but you could also avoid significant and potentially permanent damage to your vision.