News and Blog

From carol singing to jingle bells and party celebrations to family reunions, the Christmas season is abuzz with happy sounds. It’s traditionally that time of year reserved for our nearest and dearest; a whirl of activity and excitement and hectic rounds of social gatherings.
In the midst of the festive fun however, some family members may not be joining in as much as they used to and this may be because of hearing problems.

A traditional Christmas Day meal is a sight to behold, a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach and tucking into it is something to celebrate.
It’s a season of over-indulgence of course, but it may make you feel a little less guilty by considering the benefits for our eyes.

‘To be pacific, ‘an escape goat’ and ‘damp squid’ are the most misused phrases or sayings, according to new research. Commonly known as ‘eggcorns’, the phrases often mean something different to the original yet make some kind of sense.
The research was a fun way to highlight the need to look after our hearing as many phrases are down to people mishearing them in the first place. With a record 11 million people in the UK now suffering from some degree of hearing loss, if ignored it can not only lead to potentially embarrassing situations socially but also be incredibly isolating.

A call for drivers to have compulsory eye tests every ten years is one that should be taken seriously for it comes from the Association of Optometrists. Worryingly one in three optometrists said they had seen patients in the last month who carried on driving even though their vision was below the legal standard.

It’s bad enough waking up when you really want a lie-in, but much worse when you realise you have forgotten to remove your contact lenses. That feeling when you try to get those dried out lenses off your eyes is not the best start to your morning routine and you are not alone if it has happened to you.

A charming photograph of a rabbit and a cat’s unlikely friendship taken by a Poole animal lover has been chosen as the cover shot for our national charity calendar.
Kirsty Godsell was overall winner in the photographic competition to find 12 special images for the Memorable Moments calendar in aid of Alzheimer’s Society.

If you find yourself having to concentrate more as fading light and shorter days make it more difficult to see, it’s probably a good time to have a sight test. Drivers need optimum vision for their own safety and the safety of other road users.

You’ll see some frightful, scary sights this Halloween as people go to town on dressing up in ghoulish costumes and make-up.

But if you are tempted to stick cheap novelty Halloween contact lenses in your eyes to complete the look it is worth thinking again, for you could be the one feeling scared.

It’s a concern for any parent when children struggle with reading and writing and they want to help, but could the problem lie with hearing issues?

Today, Thursday 12 October, is World Sight Day, the annual day of awareness to focus global attention on blindness and vision impairment.

On a more personal scale it provides a timely reminder of the need for all of us to take better care of our eyes and to have regular eye tests.