Do You Have a Hobby? Is Your Vision Important?

Hobbies can be profoundly important for people from all walks of life. Whether you enjoy some quiet time to recenter, or a distraction from a busy work schedule, finding the perfect activity for you can feel freeing. For our founder and expert surgeon, Professor Dan Reinstein, it’s his passion for Jazz and the saxophone that helps him switch off, while for Mr Glenn Carp, fly fishing is the hobby of choice.

So, do you have a hobby of your own? And if so, how important is your vision?

The Joys of Reading

Let’s start with one of the most common hobbies in the world: reading. For centuries, the joys of picking up a good book have been enjoyed throughout the world as individuals seek to get lost in another world or increase their knowledge about their own. But for many people, this popular pastime can be more frustrating than joyful.

Getting Creative with Needles

Many a hobby involves needles, from knitting and sewing to embroidery and crochet. But if there is one thing we know about needles, it’s that they tend to be small: the saying “like a needle in a haystack” emphasises just how fiddly they can be, even for those with excellent visual acuity. So, for those with any near vision impairment, getting the perfect seamline or catching every loop on the knitting needle can prove particularly difficult

Bringing Your Vision to Life on a Canvas

Similar to reading letters on a page, clear vision can be equally important for those who enjoy leaving impressions on them. Take artists, for example. In many cases, precision is required to accurately bring their vision to life on the canvas, and this can prove challenging when the canvas or the subject appears as a blur.

Of course, there are some exceptions to this. One of the most famous artists in history, Claude Monet, lived with increasingly poor vision as he was older, but still managed to create some of his most recogniseable masterpieces!

For those with hyperopia (long-sightedness) or presbyopia (ageing eyes), making out words on a page, completing a complex embroidery project, or finishing a painted masterpiece can be almost impossible without the help of external visual aids, such as glasses or contact lenses. The good news is that these aids can typically correct even very high prescriptions, although many will be all too aware of their drawbacks.

Visual Aids Getting in the Way?

For some hobbies and activities, it may not be your vision impairment that is the primary problem, but your method of correction. Take yoga, for example. Sure, you may not need the sharpest visual acuity to get into the warrior pose or downward-facing dog. But many of these poses become more troublesome when you’re wearing glasses.

In fact, there are many activities for which the barrier of glasses or contact lenses can become a burden. From swimming and fishing – well, any kind of water sports, really! – to skiing, football, and tennis, many hobbies would be much more enjoyable without the specs or contact lenses. Thankfully, there is another option.

Laser Eye Surgery has helped millions of people around the world to ditch their glasses and contact lenses for years to come. People with long-sightedness, short-sightedness, astigmatism, and even presbyopia are now enjoying their favourite hobbies with more freedom, thanks to this quick and simple procedure.

If you’d like to learn more about our Laser Eye Surgery treatments, or find out if you could be suitable, get in touch with one of our friendly clinic coordinators or Book a Consultation today.