• Frequent and abrupt changes in lifestyle-making it hectic

• Unhealthy diets

• Long hours in front of computers and television sets

• Harmful rays of the sun.

All of the factors above can contribute towards excessive strain on the eyesight. The only means by which you can safeguard your eyes and maintain perfect vision is visiting an optometrist at timely intervals for an eye check up.

People generally avoid going to optometrists for an eye check up till they face the following difficulties:

• Difficulty in reading street signs and billboards.

• Words in a book or magazine appear blurred and hazy posing problems in reading.

• While walking down a street accidentally bumping into walls or street signs that were not visible.

If any or all of the above happens, it is time you paid your optometrist an urgent visit. They are responsible for the well being of your eyesight. They examine your eyes and diagnose eye related problems such as poor vision. Their treatment to correct poor eyesight does not consist of a bottle of “great vision” pills or a shot of eyesight injection. They correct vision with lenses and similar optical aids. Eyeglasses and contact lenses are usually prescribed by such professionals.

The following is what may likely happen if you visit an optometrist's office. Upon entering the premises you will be immediately shown a chair to sit down in. Before the lenses are offered you will have to undergo a vision test to check your vision acuity. This exam determines whether you are short or far sighted. After this test the doctor will proceed to determine the level of prescription you require in your glasses and whether you at all need to wear glasses.

At the office, they check your vision coordination, vision depth, color viewing and recognition, as well as your capability to focus. After this a glaucoma test is done to detect other diseases that are eye-related. For instance, if you suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes or cancer-these could have serious repercussions on your eyes. So the doctors will test all such possibilities. Of course they will also provide you with your treatments and give eye therapy.

Optometrists fall into the category of general practitioners. Most of their patients are children and elderly people. There are some of them who practice in private. It is a mistaken assumption that optometry is all about looking into eyes throughout the day. These eye care professionals also have to run an office. They perform functions such as hiring staff, billing, new patient services, maintaining electronic records. Besides they have to order supplies of equipment, lenses and medicines and take care of other administrative stuff to run their office.

Thus optometry is a field that is going strong with increasing number of professionals being trained who eventually commence practice. And there is a definite increase in the demand for quality optometric treatment.