Macular Degeneration Help
Here are some tips for daily life. There are solutions to those who suffer, even from wet macular degeneration. I am personally familiar with this elderly problem. Everyday tasks that were once simple now become almost overwhelming to deal with and become serious elderly issues. The more macular degeneration information you learn, the easier it will be to find creative solutions. Macular Degeneration can eventually lead to legal blindness. It may cause inability to distinguish faces and read. Driving must be given up. Life as one has known it has now changed. Macular degeneration is one of the very serious elderly issues that can drastically change one’s life. TRY THIS, for instance. Take a very large print and holding it off the side of your vision. Keep looking straight ahead, but let your eyes only focus on the large print to the side, and try to identify it. This is the only way an ARMD patient can see, and it takes a big adjustment. patients may also complain of blurry vision, and needing extremely bright light and magnification. Fortunately, there are special products and devices available for macular degeneration help. 
There is also special macular degeneration help for those with more serious vision loss. If vision loss is very severe, it brings with it many other elderly issues. It may become impossible to read even large-print books, much less mail or labels. But there are special desktop reading machines with a computer type screen. When you lay reading material under the magnifying device, the words are projected onto the screen. Font size and focus can then be modified. If font size needs to be greatly enlarged, users find it somewhat frustrating to try to read an entire book. The machine can only project a small page area at a time. Desktop reading machines, however, are excellent for reading mail, letters, pamphlets, directions, articles, small gift-sized books, etc.Check with state and local agencies for the blind for availability of books on tape. Public libraries often have a selection as well. These are an excellent source for macular degeneration help. Specialized recorders may also be requested for those who also have hearing loss. Because lack of light is such a vision loss issue, small flashlights with very strong LED lighting can be effective for illuminating large-print and numbered materials. Jerry, for instance, is 89 years old. Vision loss in the left eye is so severe it is almost useless. The right eye is also serious, and reading even large-print books is impossible. However, by shining such a flashlight on his large watch and looking at it at an angle with peripheral vision, Jerry is able to tell time. 
States, counties, and non-profit agencies can sometimes supply free technology (reading machines and books on tape recorders), lighted magnifying glasses, adhesive buttons to attach to numbers on phones and microwaves, to name a few. Since macular degeneration is a disease of central vision, the peripheral vision remains. All states offer rehabilitation services for the blind, and important macular degeneration information. Independent living skills are taught, as well as using peripheral vision. Often a case worker will make a scheduled home visit. Training in using peripheral vision is important. A conscious effort must be made to discover which area of the eye and which angle is best used. By holding up a bright, colored object and moving it to different places in the outer line of vision, a person can become accustomed as to which is the best area of the eye to look through. This may involve holding the head at different angles than usual, and may seem awkward at first. 
Other types of macular degeneration help involve training other senses. Eventually the patient adjusts to their new condition and can learn to become aware of sense of touch. For instance, Maggie’s grandson attached adhesive buttons to her large-print phone and microwave, on the numbers 1 and 3 (in the corners), 5 (in the middle), 7 and 9 (in the corners, as well as on the Start button when appropriate. The placement of buttons on all devices is consistent, on the same number pattern. Now Maggie can feel to dial the phone and use the microwave. Using the stove top and oven, of course, are no longer possible. They have been unplugged. Since it is difficult to see faces and individual features, it is helpful to train people who approach to announce who they are, such as, “Hi Fred, Joe here.” A person with macular degeneration can learn to use peripheral vision to identify general body shapes, perhaps gestures and body postures. Seeing general shapes and color will give certain amount of visual cues to the environment. Because macular degeneration does not involve blindness from birth, people have associations for certain textures, colors, smells, shapes, etc. These will help them get mental pictures of items and clothing they are familiar with. Talking about them aloud with your loved one will help trigger these memory associations. 
Macular degeneration help also means being aware of environmental sounds as cues to what is going on and where you are. Patients do begin to rely on other senses and can become very sensitive to household noise and discerning different footsteps of other people, even the patter of pets. Listening to music, lectures, radio, may become enjoyable pastimes. The smell of the outdoors, gardens, food, homes, stores and other buildings, becomes stronger. People with macular degeneration learn to adjust by enjoying other activities and skills, and can lead impressively independent lives after receiving help. Return from Macular Degeneration Help, copyright 2009-2011, OneSong, LLC
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Inability to read is one of the most frustrating results of loss of vision. Those with moderate macular degeneration can use strong magnifying glasses, even magnifying visors, some with lights. Eyeglasses with special lenses can be obtained through an eye doctor. They may also be able to read large-print books, found at libraries and special libraries for the blind. Sudoku and crossword puzzle books are found in most stores.
These are excellent forms of mind stimulation – exercising the brain is as important as exercising the body. It takes practice and patience, though, to learn to see and use these aids using only peripheral vision.
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