Common Causes of Low Vision in Seniors

Low vision is a chronic ailment that interferes with daily living. Many elderly people discover that their eyesight worsens as they age, but it can be corrected with eyeglasses or a new prescription and they can still do the majority of activities they need to do. With low vision, common daily activities like driving, self-care, meal prep, and other tasks become too difficult or dangerous to do.

Conditions Related to Low Vision

Low vision is considered a visual impairment. It’s defined as an inability to complete certain tasks because of a loss of visual acuity. Several areas of vision may be impaired for those with low vision. They include peripheral vision, central vision, night vision, and depth perception. When these areas of sight are reduced, they interfere with many daily tasks that most of take for granted.

Some conditions that might lead to low vision are:

• Cataracts. Cataracts create a cloudy film over the eye lens, reducing its ability to see clearly.
• Macular Degeneration. With this condition, a person develops a blurry spot in their central visual field.
• Glaucoma. This progressive disease affects the optic nerve. It will greatly affect night vision and peripheral vision and will create damage to the eye that cannot be fixed.
• Diabetes-related retinopathy. If your loved one has diabetes, the blood vessels in her eyes might leak, creating a buildup and pressure within the retina and damaging it.

These are the most common causes of low vision, but they can also occur from injury, health complications, or as a side effect of other conditions.

What Does Low Vision Affect

To determine if low vision is something your loved one is struggling with, it often starts with seeing how she interacts with the world around her. A person with low vision might stop driving because they cannot see well enough to navigate crowded roadways safely. They may also find that using a computer or their phone screen is too difficult. Low vision can even make it difficult for them to recognize people and places that they know well.

Without support and assistance, many people with low vision withdraw into the safety of their homes and stop interacting with the world around them.

Live-in Care Can Keep A Person with Low Vision Independent

A large fear of having low vision is the loss of independence. Your loved one may fear that she’ll need to leave her home and live in a small room in a community living environment. She may also fear that she’ll no longer be able to do the activities she loves like walking in the park or going to a play.

A live-in care attendant can help your loved one stay in her home, do the things she loves, and provide assistance in the areas she now needs help with. Having someone provide live-in care means your loved one will have someone home with her at all times, so if she needs a sudden visit to the clinic in the evening, she has a driver. If she needs help with before bedtime personal care needs, she has a person right there ready to assist. Finally, a live-in care provider can help your loved one feel less lonely and that she’s forgotten about. They provide the human connection everyone needs in this world no matter how well they see.

If you or an aging loved one are considering Live-In Care in Salisbury, NC, contact the caring professionals at TenderHearted Home Care today. Call us at (704) 612-4132