Consider these three statistics about the current state of eye health and eyecare services in the U.S. today:

• According to a 2012 National Health Interview Survey, 20.6 million American adults (18 years and older) reported that they experienced vision loss to some extent, many of whom rely on prescription eyeglasses, contact lenses, or LASIK surgery to see properly.
• It’s estimated that there are 61 million adults in the U.S. who are at a high risk of experiencing vision loss, but only half of these people have seen an optometrist for a comprehensive eye examination at least once in the past 12 months.
• If you spend at least two hours every day sitting in front of a computer screen, you’re 90% more likely to develop something called Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS), which is a condition that affects the overall health of your body and is completely connected to staring at glowing digital screens for extended lengths of time.
• Even though millions of American workers already have mild cases of CVS without knowing it, and even though studies have shown that productivity decreases substantially when an employee is experiencing CVS, the majority of American workers still spend about six hours staring at a computer on an average work day.

So why should any of this matter to you?

First of all, if you happen to be one of those millions of Americans who work on computers all day long, it’s important to realize how it might be affecting your health, your personal life, and your professional success. The symptoms of CVS can often be very vague, with the most common symptoms being headaches and muscle aches, causing sufferers of CVS to overlook these symptoms without considering that they could be directly related to eye health.

Secondly — and speaking of eye health — it’s important to realize that vision loss is a natural process that occurs as you age, and that your eyes naturally change as your environment and lifestyle changes. This really isn’t a big deal, considering the number of safe and affordable treatment options available today for vision loss. But without seeing your local optometrist for treatment, and without having an experienced optometrist regularly check your eyes as a preventative health measure, you could end up experiencing a lot of pain and health problems down the line.

Always remember that your vision is incredibly important, and that you deserve to see the world clearly each and every day! More like this blog. More research here.