A Newent man’s sight has been saved after the staff in the Vision Express Gloucester store referred him for emergency hospital treatment following an eye test. Now he is urging others to have regular sight tests, viagra 40mg as the UK marks National Eye Health Week (22-28 September 2014).
Peter Rimmer, 63, was worried about his vision deteriorating and the presence of floaters in his sight. After explaining the problem to his son-in-law Nathan Smith, a dispensing optician at Vision Express, Nathan urged Peter to have his eyes tested.
Dermot Keogh, an experienced optometrist and store partner at Vision Express Gloucester, detected three retinal tears in Peter’s eyes. Concerned about detachment risks, Dermot immediately referred Peter to the eye clinic at Cheltenham hospital, where he was seen that very evening.
Peter explains: “I was told that even a minor knock to my head risked permanent damage to my sight. Nathan and Dermot were fantastic in getting me in to see the doctors at Cheltenham hospital that day, who opened the eye lab after-hours to treat me.”
Full laser eye treatment was provided to repair the tears in the retina by essentially ‘welding’ the tissues together with a microscopic high-intensity beam of light energy. Moments later a potentially life-changing injury was fixed.
He concludes: “Thanks to the professionalism and quick thinking of the staff at Vision Express Gloucester, my sight has been saved. As a crafter, I make jewellery using very small stones, so any impact on my vision would have been devastating. My advice to anyone having sight problems is to get your eyes tested – I didn’t think my symptoms were particularly bad but they could have left me blind.”
Dermot Keogh, store partner at Vision Express Gloucester, added: “Stories such as Peter’s really reiterate how important eye tests are. While many people consider them only necessary for determining whether or not they need glasses or lenses, in fact they can hold the answer to many other health-related problems including diabetes and possible strokes as well as sight issues including tears, cataracts and glaucoma.”
To mark National Eye Health Week 2014 (22 – 28 September), Vision Express has launched the ‘Vision Van’ – an initiative to tackle the worsening eye health of the nation, by taking to the UK’s streets in a large mobile unit equipped with the very latest eye testing technology, to offer free of charge eye tests.
The Vision Van will visit national ‘hotspots’ which include areas most at risk of preventable sight loss due to factors including low eye test rates, high levels of obesity, heavy smoking, and prevalence of stroke. It will offer free and extensive eye tests to the public, to help safeguard the UK’s future eye health in the following locations: London, Westfield White City (19 Sept), Newcastle (22 Sept), Liverpool (23 Sept), Norwich (24 Sept) and Birmingham (25 Sept).
Vision Express offers an eye test to best practice guidelines of the College of Optometrists (COO), with each Vision Express optometrist being a qualified eye health professional. To find your nearest Vision Express store and make an eye test appointment visit: http://www.visionexpress.com/opticians/