Fireworks & bonfires: Do take care

Fireworks & bonfires: Do take care Fireworks are delightful inventions that bring fun and enjoyment to everyone (except maybe dogs and older adults). But they’re also small dangerous missiles packed with gunpowder that fire ‘payloads’ at hundreds of miles an hour into the sky to explode in a (hopefully) controlled and artistic way. Without sounding like too much of a party pooper, it’s the same story for bonfires. Although for millennia, they’ve kept us warm and provided us with a…

Autumn is the season of colours

Autumn is the season of colours Colours are all around us. And should we stop for long enough to notice them, we realise they make our world not just look incredible, but our experiences a whole lot richer. They are, after all, what enables us to become awestruck at such scenes as a sunset, a rainbow lorikeet, a Henry Matisse or Van Gogh painting, and the bloom of the cherry blossoms in spring. But beyond mere pleasure for the senses, in…

How to avoid suffering from an eye injury

How to avoid suffering from an eye injury Whether your work involves filling out spreadsheets on a computer or handling heavy machinery, clear vision is essential to getting the job done as efficiently and effectively as possible. Let’s take a look at five of the main factors that are most important in keeping your eyes safe from harm: Proper eye protection The vast majority of eye injuries can be avoided. And the best way to ensure you avoid them or…

The incredible vision of a south-east African tribe

The incredible vision of a south-east African tribe Our vision adapts to the world we live in. But natural evolution can only move so fast, and there’s no limit to the speed at which the world can change. So, when in just a few generations the average person’s day shifts from spending hours out in wide-open spaces, full of natural light, different colours and contrasts, and moving objects at varying distances, to sitting in an office in a city and…

What do your eyes reveal about who you are?

What do your eyes reveal about who you are? Everyone has heard the saying “the eyes are the windows to the soul”. It’s been so overused in advertising and daily speech that it’s almost lost all meaning. But like most cliches, there’s a reason it has stuck around in the public consciousness. Mentioned in the bible in Matthew 6 22-23, and being very similar to proverbs in several languages, such as the French, ‘Les yeux sont le miroir de l’dme’, “The…

4 Misconceptions about your eye health

4 Misconceptions about your eye health There’s an abundance of ideas and misconceptions about vision and keeping your eyes healthy out there. At best, they’re funny and harmless, like if you cross your eyes for too long they’ll stay that way. At worst, they can be damaging to your health. The big problem is, because there are so many, it can be difficult to know which are fact and which are fiction. To know what’s fake news and what’s legitimate,…

Do eye health supplements really work?

Do eye health supplements really work? Health supplements are a modern invention. Yet, after a few minutes of browsing the shelves of Holland and Barratt or just your local supermarket, you could be fooled into thinking they’re essential for everyone to maintain a basic standard of health. Together, all products or supplements that aim to improve your health—multivitamins, protein powders, detox tonics, etc.—make up a multi-million-pound global industry. The fact is, they’re convenient, incredibly-well branded, and often promise for results…

Children and eye health care

Children and eye health care Every single eye is different. It’s why retinal scanners are so good at identifying you from the crowd. But your eyes are so unique they’re also different from each other. Just take a moment to look in the mirror at each iris, the coloured part of your eye that controls the amount of light that hits your retina. No doubt you’ll see small, random patterns in one iris that appear completely different from the other….

Caring for ageing eyes

Caring for ageing eyes There’s some things you can’t control as you age. A declining ability to climb stairs. The fact you can’t party as hard as when you were 20. Skin that shows you’ve been on this Earth for more years than most. Such things, at least for most folks, are just a natural part of getting older that simply have to be accepted. Just like other parts of the body, your eyes are susceptible to the ageing process….

A quick eye health check

A quick eye health check Sight is one of the senses we use the most. And yet, it’s also one of the senses that gets the most overlooked (no pun intended) when it comes care. This isn’t surprising. When they are working perfectly well, we never notice our eyes. They humbly toil away in the background with their over two million working parts, allowing us to see the world in all its glory as well as supporting all of our other senses….