Fight Dependency

Every person has diverse interests and hobbies which they get involved in as life goes on. Often these are things which we are encouraged by parents or teachers to take an interest in whilst we are children. Others we are introduced to by friends. Some we find ourselves after hearing about them or noticing them on television and others may originate from jobs we have had. There are a number that we will lose interest in as we get older and others that we can only fully enjoy once we reach a certain age.

I have a friend who has always spent her spare time sewing, and she has made some incredible outfits over the years. But she is now having issues with her eyes, and until the full scope of her problem is properly diagnosed, she doesn’t know if anything can be done to improve her eyesight. But if there is no treatment available, she will have to cease doing the thing which gives her the most pleasure.

This prompted me to think about some of my hobbies and how a number of of the things that I enjoy doing would not be so much fun if my eyesight got worse or I started to lose my hearing. Since my very favourite obsession is music – listening to it, going to see my favourite artists live, attending music festivals and collecting music related memorabilia, I can’t even begin to understand how I would feel if I could never listen to my favourite tracks by my favourite bands ever again.

But on the other hand, the majority of my other interests depend very much on being able to see. I read as much as I can and always have a huge mound of books which I like the look of and am trying to make the time to sit and read them. I enjoy taking photos, so not being able to see clearly enough to get a good shot would be extremely annoying in the first place, but then not even being able to see at all to enhance the photos using computer software would make it worse.

I enjoy watching a number of different sports, and though I guess that if I was watching a game on television, the commentator’s words would articulate what I couldn’t look at for myself, I’m not really certain that I would enjoy myself as much spending the afternoon at a football match if I wasn’t able to watch properly what was taking place on the pitch. One other thing I enjoy doing is visiting historical buildings, museums and art galleries, and I’m sure it must be truly awful to not be able to view stunning pieces of art or interesting pieces of architecture.

But that’s just some of one person’s interests! There are countless different things that people look forward to doing in their spare time, and the prospect of participating in a lot of them would be seriously affected if the eyes cannot function properly. Going back to the person I referred to at the beginning of this article, any arts and crafts related interests would become impossible to do as well as things like woodwork and DIY. Those who take part in various sports or other outdoor hobbies, including rock climbing or bird watching, would find it almost impossible to continue getting involved with failing vision.

Naturally, not all sight or hearing complaints are untreatable or permanent, so most people can usually get back to what they enjoy doing following diagnosis and treatment. Sometimes that treatment can be as straightforward as taking medicine if the issue is a reaction to some type of infection. At other times, external aid can fix things – a hearing aid, reading glasses, contact lenses and so on, but with some hobbies these are not suitable. For a person who gets involved in water sports and cannot use glasses or lenses because of the water splashing, Laser eye treatment is a possibility to facilitate ongoing participation, and as far as surgical procedures go, Laser eye surgery is one of the less expensive operations to undergo.

Other more severe problems may take longer to diagnose and then need more long term treatment, but, for the eyes, Laser eye surgery is a pretty quick and easy answer for some complaints. Also, for some kinds of hearing problems, surgery is a possibility too.

I have some minor eyesight problems which are corrected by glasses (sadly Laser eye not generally available for my complaint), and I find it a drag always having to take my glasses with me, but just considering what people have to give up if they cannot hear or see properly makes me grateful that I can still see well enough to do the things I enjoy, and luckily my hearing is just perfect, despite a lifetime of loud music!

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Tags: health, improved vision, laser eye, laser eye surgery, lifefstyle