Prague, 12 October 2023 (PROTECT) – Since 1990, we have been celebrating World Sight Day every year in October. The goal of this awareness event coordinated by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) is to raise awareness of eye health. This year, on October 12, the event focuses on the importance of eye care in the workplace.

The Love Your Eyes campaign, coinciding with World Sight Day, encourages people to take care of their eye health. At the same time, it points out that more than a billion people worldwide lose their sight unnecessarily, simply because of the lack of eye care. This year, the organizers are motivating employers to focus on their employees’ eye health and encourage good habits related to this issue. “World Sight Day has become a very important date at the international level. It is a reflection that when people work together, we can achieve extraordinary results. This year we are focusing on the workplace. The importance of eye care for employees cannot be overstated, as healthy vision allows people to work better and safer and keep their jobs. I urge all workplaces to check the eyesight of their employees this October.” said Peter Holland, CEO of IAPB.

Proper vision correction can increase work productivity by 22%

Good vision and eye health are essential for better work. Data published by the IAPB shows that proper vision correction can increase work productivity by 22%. In addition, 9 out of 10 eye injuries in the workplace can be prevented with appropriate safety glasses. It is also important to maintain eye health in office professions. “Nowadays, we damage our eyes by doing too much close-up work. The focused muscles then become tired and may even experience spasms. Therefore, we recommend that people who work on computers follow the 20/20/20 rule. After working on the computer for twenty minutes, they should refocus for twenty seconds on an object twenty feet away, which is about six meters, to rest their eyes.” MUDr ophthalmologist advises. Lucie Valešová, head of NeoVize Prague Eye Clinic.

Modern ophthalmology allows timely resolution of most vision problems.

Blurred vision or tired eyes can cause decreased concentration, thereby reducing worker performance. “Like other discomforts, vision problems have a negative effect on quality of life, and also on work. Uncorrected or poorly corrected dioptric defects or untreated eye diseases can make work difficult. Cataracts cause blurred vision, fading of colors, loss of contrast. Glaucoma causes blackouts in the field of vision. Retinal diseases in turn can cause image distortion and also cause disturbances in the field of vision. Uncorrected dioptric defects, nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism can cause fatigue, redness and burning in the eyes, or even headaches.” shows doc. MD Šárka Skorkovská, CSc., head of the NeoVize Eye Clinic Brno. “All of these difficulties then had a negative impact on my ability to concentrate on work.” supplies. According to ophthalmologists, the inability to focus, recognize details or color shades causes poor concentration and makes it difficult to work in almost any profession. Fortunately, modern ophthalmology allows us to solve this problem in a timely manner.

Eye care is a popular employee benefit

Employers are increasingly aware of the importance of employee health to their professional performance, and are therefore including health benefits in their employment benefits offerings. “There is still interest in the health benefits. And it is not surprising, because we only have one health. In addition, the possibility of drawing also applies to family members. So why not use it, for example, for new glasses for children?” said Tomáš Petrův of Benefit Plus, which manages employee benefits for more than 500 companies with over 210,000 employees. At the same time, he added that when it comes to health, eye care is second only to shopping at the pharmacy, where people spend the most money. “As far as vision is concerned, the most important thing is eye optical pumping, which is 97% of total vision care. Behind the remaining three percent are eye clinics that offer, for example, laser eye surgery, which can be expensive, but thanks to employee benefits, the costs are affordable for many people.” added Tomáš Petrův. Today, laser diopter removal is a quick and painless procedure that is performed on an outpatient basis, so patients go home immediately after surgery. The next day there is a check-up and you can basically go straight to work. Some professions even get discounts for laser surgery. “At NeoVize Eye Clinics, we appreciate what firefighters, police, soldiers, paramedics and paramedics do for the community. We know how important good vision without glasses and contact lenses is in this profession. Therefore we provide special prices for those who protect us for laser procedures with a lifetime guarantee of NeoLASIK HD and NeoSMILE 3D. The discount must be requested at the time of ordering the examination or no later than the day of the preoperative examination. stated MUDR. Lucie Valešová.

Dozens of clinic employees underwent eye surgery

Each of us should undergo regular preventive eye examinations, at least once every three years, after forty every two years and even the elderly every year. “Several companies serve their employees by conducting preventative orientation eye measurements directly at the workplace. Some companies, whose employees perform work that requires vision, in turn send their employees for routine eye examinations directly to our clinic. And some companies even contribute to eye surgery for their employees.” confirmed by principal Skorkovská. According to him, apart from regular check-ups with an eye doctor, the working environment is also important: appropriate lighting, correct sitting conditions in front of the computer, including monitor settings, and ideally also the ability to alternate working at the computer with another computer. activity, so that the eyes can refocus at a different distance and rest. Caring for the eyes of employees and their families is also important in NeoVize eye clinic management. “We are very confident in the meaning of our work. We believe in what we do. The proof is that more than five dozen of our colleagues have undergone eye surgery themselves. They join dozens of relatives and hundreds of acquaintances of our employees who have decided to take care of their eyesight at our clinic.” said Petr Kocian, CEO of NeoVize Group, which also includes the NeoVize eye clinic network.

3 stories of patients who had their diopters removed so they could better practice their profession

The decision to undergo laser eye surgery to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism is often associated with performing in a profession that requires sharp vision, but glasses can also be a barrier.

Horse breeders: Peripheral vision is critical, especially when working with animals.

For example, horse breeder Aneta Kočovská, who together with her husband runs a large farm, experiences a lot of discomfort from glasses. “At work, every time I lean forward, my glasses slide down, sweat drips into them, and they fog up. And peripheral vision is critical, especially when working with animals. I can’t afford to move around them and not see their movements and behavior. Especially if they’re in a herd together and constantly communicating with each other and maybe chasing each other. After that, they’re able to walk past everything – including humans.” Aneta Kočovská tells her experience. In the end, he decided to undergo laser surgery, as working with animals often resulted in deformation or damage to the glasses.

Dancer: You can hardly dance a Latin dance with glasses on your nose

Glasses are also an obstacle for professional dancer Vít Roháček. “I wear lenses for practice and training sessions all day because dancing with glasses is not the best. Standard dances such as the waltz, waltz, or quickstep can still be performed, but there are not many types of Latin cha cha or jive dances. When making fast turns, my glasses often fall off my face and scatter on the floor, especially when I’m sweating.” describe. When Vít Roháček wears his glasses during training, he has to move slower so that his glasses don’t fall off. “It taught me how to dance slowly, and even though I wear contacts in competitions, I was trained at that speed – and it was wrong,” explains how glasses made his life difficult and why he decided to remove his eye defect with the help of laser surgery.

Kayaker: Contact lenses washed while practicing on wild rivers

Athlete Adam Satke also experienced complications related to eye defects. During training in the wild river, the contact lenses repeatedly moved or fell out of his eyes. After going through the roller, he often lost vision in one eye altogether. He was lucky to avoid such problems at race pace, as they could have had a negative impact on his competitive results.

In addition to the professional sports track, he also works with cars in the family car service. And it won’t work if you use glasses here either. “When you need to lie under a car or do something, glasses come in handy,” Adam Satke gives another example of how his professional life was made uncomfortable by dioptric defects. Because he used lenses more often than healthy ones, his eyes often felt sore. Today, he is happy because his eye defect has been removed thanks to laser surgery and he no longer needs glasses or contact lenses for the rest of his life.

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