Focus on: Norwood Optical
THE EYE CARE EDITION
Focus on: Norwood Optical
After making a small move in November 2021, this fresh and bright
new store has a bustling atmosphere from the moment it opens each day.
National Pharmacies Norwood is your one stop shop for wellbeing, health and now eye care with the new Optical store right next-door and easily accessible from within the store. Optical Manager Vicki Leane, is excited to see this new chapter for the Norwood store. Working with National Pharmacies Optical for 23 years now, Vicki shares her joy for the change of scenery, “Everyone is enjoying it for many reasons; it’s a nice, bright new store, with a range of new brands as well and we have a lot more foot traffic now as we are more visible and further up The Parade.”
Fitting frames with the perfect lens means seeing resident Optometrist, Philip Milford. We sat down with Philip to discuss what eye issues may come up and how to protect your own eyes.
What made you want to be an Optometrist?
Well, this goes back many years but my father was an Optometrist and it seemed like a good idea, which turned out to be a good idea! The reason I am an Optometrist is because I enjoy helping people; there’s rewards when you can ease people’s discomfort or improve their vision, and even stop them from going blind, it’s very rewarding.
What is the most common eye concern that you deal with?
Cataracts are very common and dry eyes. Dry eyes are common as we get older but there’s new technology that we can use to treat it and improve the comfort so that people don’t have to suffer. Dry eyes are odd because people don’t understand what it is until you suffer from it; it’s a debilitating and constant sandy, gritty, grinding feeling in your eye.
Any tips or measures we can take to protect our eyes?
Having regular eye tests. The biggest cause of preventable vision loss is from people not getting their eyes tested. We pick up diseases and issues when people don’t expect it, even if you don’t need glasses you should still get an eye test on a regular basis. It prevents a lot of problems… and your eyesight is invaluable. Most eye diseases run in families but can happen to anyone, so regular checks are wise as we can control or stop diseases from developing into a major problem.