Eye care after 60: a checklist for Filipino seniors

Most Filipino families notice a parent's eyesight changing before the parent mentions it. The TV volume goes up but so does how close they sit. Reading moves to the brightest chair in the house. Night driving quietly stops.

After 60, some eye changes are ordinary ageing and some are conditions that need attention early. The problem is that the two feel similar from the inside, and several of the serious ones cause no symptoms at all until damage is done. Here is the practical checklist.

1. An eye test every year, symptoms or not

This is the single item that matters most. In your twenties, every two years is reasonable. After 60, annual is the sensible standard, because the conditions that become more common with age are the ones that give the least warning.

Glaucoma is the clearest example. It typically damages peripheral vision first, and the brain fills in the gaps so convincingly that people do not notice until a significant amount is gone. There is no pain in the common form. An eye test finds it; waiting for symptoms does not.

2. Know which conditions become more likely

Not to self-diagnose, but so you know what an exam is looking for:

• Cataract. Clouding of the lens inside the eye. Very common with age. Colours dull, glare gets worse, night driving becomes harder, and vision looks slightly hazy as though a window needs cleaning.
• Glaucoma. Damage to the optic nerve, usually with no early symptoms.
• Age-related macular degeneration. Affects central vision, so straight lines may look bent or there is a blurred patch in the middle of what you are looking at.
• Diabetic retinopathy. If there is diabetes in the picture, the retina needs regular checking regardless of how good vision feels.
• Dry eye. More common with age and with many long-term medications.

3. Bring the medication list

This gets forgotten constantly. A number of common long-term medications affect the eyes or tear production, and some require specific monitoring. Take a photo of every box, including supplements, and show it to the optometrist. It changes what they look for.

Bring the blood sugar and blood pressure history too if there is any. The eye is the one place where these show up visibly.

4. Fix the lighting at home

Ageing eyes need considerably more light to read the same text. This is normal and it is the cheapest problem on this list to solve.

• A directed reading lamp beside the chair, not just a ceiling light
• Brighter, even lighting on stairs and in hallways
• Contrast where it matters: a light switch that stands out from the wall, a dark mat at the top step

5. Take falls seriously as an eye issue

Poor vision and falls are connected, and a fall at 70 is a different event from a fall at 40. Two things to watch.

First, uncorrected vision makes steps, kerbs and thresholds harder to judge. Second, new progressive lenses can briefly make stairs harder while the wearer adapts, because the reading portion sits in the lower part of the lens, which is where you look when you step down. Anyone new to progressives should be told to lower their chin and look through the top of the lens on stairs, not tilt their head down.

6. Do not treat sunglasses as optional

Cumulative UV exposure is associated with cataract and with growths on the eye surface. A lifetime under Philippine sun adds up. Genuine UV protection outdoors still matters at 65, not only at 25.

7. Watch for changes that need seeing now, not next month

Book urgently, do not wait for the annual, if there is sudden vision loss in one eye, a curtain or shadow across part of the vision, a sudden increase in floaters or flashes of light, eye pain with redness and nausea, or new double vision. These are not wait-and-see symptoms.

Make the appointment, and go together

Book a Vision7 eye test at your nearest Vision Express store. Our seven-step exam includes a visual health examination and a binocular assessment, so an optometrist checks eye health as well as measuring the prescription, and refers on to an ophthalmologist when that is what is needed. If you are booking for a parent, come with them. Two people remember more of what was said than one.

If reading and mid-distance are both a struggle, ask for Essilor Varilux Physio Extensee at the counter. It gives clear vision from reading distance out to across the room in one lens, so there is no swapping pairs between the newspaper and the TV, which is the change most seniors actually feel day to day. Made in France, three to five days.

For the widest, most stable field, particularly for someone who reads a lot or uses a tablet, ask about Shamir Autograph Intelligence as the step up.

Free lifetime custom fitting and adjustment comes with every pair, which matters more than people expect, because a frame that has slipped puts the reading zone in the wrong place. Also included: free lifetime ultrasonic cleaning and a one-year warranty.