When your mother squints and then stretches out her arm in order to make out the numbers in the phone book it is probably because she has presbyopia, a type of farsightedness that sets in around age 40, when the lens of the eye becomes more rigid. In most cases, presbyopia is easily remedied with a pair of reading glasses or bifocals.

But how can you help your parents make their world more visible? Supreme Touch Home Health Services Corp., a home health care in Columbus Ohio, shares these tweaks you can do at home for them:

• Brighten the house, especially in stairways and places where your parent reads. Older people need nearly three times as much light as younger people. A reading light should be positioned behind the shoulder on the same side as your parent’s better eye.

• Decrease glare by covering shiny surfaces and avoiding waxy floors. Aim lights at a wall or ceiling to create indirect light. Add blinds or curtains to windows that tend to be filled with bright sunlight.

• Distribute light evenly because old eyes have trouble refocusing when going from light to dark.

• Get your parent some sunglasses with 100% UV protection to cut down on glare and to protect her eyes from future damage.

• Put night lights in the bedroom, hallways and bathroom as your parent’s night vision may be poor.

• Make sure light switches are accessible at the entrance to all rooms.

• Your parent might want to buy a larger television or perhaps a black-and-white one, which is sometimes easier to view.

• Buy lubricating eyedrops, sometimes called artificial tears (not saline solution or eyedrops for redness), available in most pharmacies. Dryness, a common problem, makes eyes itch, sting and burn. But if dry eyes persist, your parent should see an ophthalmologist, as chronic dryness can lead to more serious problems.

• Check your parent’s medications and then follow up with a call to the prescribing doctor’s offices if you are concerned. Certain medications can disturb vision or make eyes dry.

• Review your parent’s driving habits and urge him to avoid highways and night-driving.

• Wear bright colors when you visit if your parent’s vision has grown quite poor.

• Write notes in big, clear letters with a black-ink, felt-tipped pen.

• If your parent’s vision is very faint, encourage her to touch things – hold your hand, feel your face, or explore a new object with her hands.

Your parent should see an eye doctor immediately if:

• Her vision becomes blurred, distorted or she complains of having double visions.

• Her eyes are looking sore, swollen or leaking unusual amounts of discharge.

• She complains of seeing flashes of light or halos, even when being away from direct sun light.

• She develops wandering or crossed eyes.

• She is looking things using a single eye after losing her peripheral vision or her vision in one eye.

• She develops an acute sensitivity to light and glare.

Even in the absence of symptoms, Supreme Touch Home Health Services Corp., a home health care in Columbus Ohio, still believes it’s better to get regular eye checkups from time to time; most especially when they’re growing older, have a family history of eye disease, or have the presence of another risk factor such as diabetes.

Schedule an appointment with us today! Call Supreme Touch Home Health Services Corp.’s home health care in Columbus Ohio at 614-488-2266.