I eats me spinach, says Stuart P. Richer, O.D., Ph.D., chief optometrist at the Department of Veteran Affairs Medical Center in North Chicago. Dark green leafy vegetables are very important to the overall health of your eyes. For variety, he suggests trying collard greens, kale, or romaine lettuce. Bigger is better. Large-print books and playing cards, television remote controls with large readable buttons, and other oversized products can help you continue doing activities you enjoy, Dr. Sumers says.
Some companies even sell telephones with large numbers and extra-large wall clocks and calculators.
Ask your ophthalmologist if these products are available in your area, or for a catalog of items designed to make life a little easier for people of low vision, write to Lighthouse International, a nonprofit agency for people who have partial sight or are blind, at 111 East 59th Street, New York, NY 10022. The catalog is available in large-print, braille, and audiotape versions. A high-quality magnifying glass is a must if you want to read, says Charles R. Fox, O.D., director of vision rehabilitation at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. It can be just as good as one you would get from a low-vision center and often will be cheaper, he notes. To make sure that you get a high-quality magnifier, put the magnifier flat on a piece of lined paper and raise it up until the lines look bigger.