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According to the World Health Organization,more than 85% of blindness
cases could have been prevented or cured with the current knowledge we have, if put to work with sufficient
means.
This judgment has great importance when we think that for the human species, the eye
represents the main sensory organ and that close to 80% of the information we gather from
the environment reaches us through sight.
Prevention is therefore essential because it is
the only way to hinder or reduce sight problems, limiting damages linked to
late diagnosis.
Visiting the eye specialist for full tests is the best way to safeguard the
health of our eyes, even in the absence of alarming clues. In fact, there
exist pathological conditions that, in their initial phases, are not readily
recognized because of the lack of notable signs.
When in doubt, always consult with your eye specialist.
Beginning with this issue, we will present a series of self-tests that, we
must stress, do not in any way replace the visits you should make to your eye
specialist, but that, we think, will help you to give greater attention to
your eyes.
That being said let us talk about the Amsler test.
What is it about?
It is a very simple test that many of you may have already done with your eye specialist, but that can be easily done in the comfort of your home at
your own convenience. With the Amsler grid, it is
possible to monitor your central vision in the
event of symptoms
present in only one eye which often you would not be aware of unless you
cover the good eye with your hand.
You need to test each eye separately in order to identify possible symptoms
such as metamorphopsia or the distortion of images. Metamorphopsia can be a
signal of a dysfunction of the retina. The Amsler
grid is a useful mean to monitor your central vision. With that simple test,
it is possible to detect early the symptoms of some pathology that affect the
central part of the retina. Each eye is tested separately: this helps
identifying the visual symptoms that may affect only one eye.
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How
should you use the Amsler grid?
- Make sure that the lighting is adequate;
- Put on your reading glasses, if any;
- Place the grid at about 30 cm from your eyes;
- Cover one eye with the palm of your hand;
- With the
eye that is not covered, fix the black dot in the centre of the grid.
Ask
yourself these questions:
- Are the lines broken off or distorted?
- Do some squares have different shapes and sizes?
- If you answered “yes” to one
of these questions (and if this is a new symptom), it is
appropriate to contact your eye specialist to undergo an evaluation in
more depth.
Municipality
of Venice
Reading Facilitated
Project
Prevention
is important, test your sight with the Amsler grid.
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