Among all senses, eyesight is vital. Critical tasks you do every day would be dramatically altered—if not impossible—without vision. For this reason, it is critically important to ensure we check our eyesight frequently. This is why we have a national eye exam month to increase awareness and ensure healthy eyes everywhere.

There are a few ways that poor eyesight can impact your life. In the spirit of national eye exam month awareness, here are some common eyesight problems along with how they affect your life.

Problem 1: Far-Sightedness and Near-Sightedness

The first ocular issue that can cause problems, and the most common, is near and farsightedness. The onset of these issues can happen at any time throughout your life. Changes in your vision can occur because of growth or could happen as gradual degradation. The latter is particularly tricky because degradation is so subtle and stretched out over such an extended period; you don’t realize how bad it is gotten until you put on a pair of glasses.

Issues with your eyesight in these areas can affect many things. Specifically, driving is tough. When you’re operating your vehicle, you continuously shift your field of view from scanning the distance, to instrumentation on your dash. Without the ability to see either of these, vehicle operation is dramatically impaired.

Problem 2: Ability to See at Night

Another common eyesight problem area is night vision. It is very easy to think that our ability to see at night is the same as everybody else’s. However, in truth, night vision is extremely variable, and many see better than others. Having your night vision checked and getting the proper eyewear to correct night vision issues is imperative. The only way to identify if there is an issue with your night vision is to make a trip to the eye doctor and get an eye exam.

Problem 3: Ability to See Color

Another condition that your eye exam will check for is color blindness. Because many of the visual cues utilized while driving involve prolific use of color, identifying these signals relies on correctly identifying colors. Making a trip to the eye doctor and having your color vision checked out should happen every year, to make sure no slow changes occur that lead to impairment down the road.

Problem 4: Peripheral Vision

The last problem you want to take a look at when it comes to your eyesight is peripheral vision. This aspect of eyesight is often taken for granted and we don’t always see how important it actually is. However, are peripherals give key subconscious indicators that can interpret and react to information before we even realize what’s going on. This makes your peripheral vision a crucial aspect of your daily life.

Don’t Forget About Other Essential Services Either

Eye examinations aren’t the only essential task that gets their month. In the same way, that eye examinations are an essential routine activity that needs to be performed yearly; life insurance is another critical part of your life that needs to be handled. Even if you already have life insurance, it’s always a good idea to check back yearly and make sure you have enough coverage to meet your needs. You wouldn’t drive without your glasses, so it would be silly to live without life insurance.