This post was sponsored by Think About Your Eyes as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central. I received compensation as a thank you for my review.
Living a goal focused life in an attempt to live a healthy lifestyle has a lot of components. Making sure our bodies are healthy and strong there are many things we need to do to make sure we are functioning at our highest potential. Eating fresh, whole balanced meals and moving our body through exercise helps keep our physique healthy and strong. We must not neglect or take for granted the one part that doctors can not replicate should it fail – our eyes.
A few years ago, I had just given birth to my third son. My vision was acting funny and odd. I was having random blurry vision, sensitivity to light, and occasionally lost all ability to see. It was scary and I didn’t know what was going on. I visited my eye doctor regularly and she attributed it to “hormones” from having a baby.
A few months later I woke one morning to my left eye swollen shut. I was unable to see or even open my eyes due to the sensitivity to light (any and all light). When I was able to peel my eye open my eye ball was red and inflamed. Something was wrong. I was rushed to a local optometrist (who was not my current eye doctor). He shared with me that I had a corneal ulcer and if the ulcer was a millimeter to the center of my eye I would have gone blind. Blind!
If left untreated and the ulcer continued to grow and become inflamed, I would have missed out on SEEING so many things as my three boys grew. Granted it was only one eye, but sometimes as a mom of three boys you need BOTH eyes and an extra set behind your head to see what mischief they are getting in to. Just like the above picture I found when I was lovingly gazing at T when I nursed him… vision… a precious gift. Not to be taken for granted.
Since that scary moment with my eyes, I have never taken for granted the health of my eyes. I make sure I visit my eye doctor every year to check the health of my eyes, my vision and more. Medical technology has come a long way – but they have not been able to replicate or replace an eyeball if there is a serious injury. Just like all other muscles, our eyes need regular care to maintain maximum performance.
I am a huge advocate for the importance of eye health and regularly getting comprehensive eye exams with eye care professionals. I was sent this info graphic (below) sharing the Think About Your Eyes initiative and love the message. So often we are so concerned about our physical bodies and exercising those muscles that we forget our eyes.
Think About Your Eyes is a national public awareness campaign that promotes the benefits of eye health, urging people to get annual comprehensive eye exams. A survey was given to the members of Life Time Fitness and it found that some gym-goers neglect their eye health despite being very conscious of their body health and fitness.
By getting an annual comprehensive eye exam, eye problems can be detected at their early stages when they’re most treatable. Visit the Think About Your Eyes eye care professional locator to find an eye doctor near you and schedule an exam.
Cassi says
Wow, I’ve never heard of an ulcer in the eye!
Jill Will Run says
That’s so scary Rachel! I’m glad you got it treated. I had a corneal abrasion several years back and that was pretty scary. But I admit, I haven’t been to the eye doctor since I stopped having follow-up visits after having PRK surgery to correct my vision about 6 years ago. I used to go so regularly too, since I got glasses at the age of 10.