Winning against AMD
2.7 Get better lighting.
Get better lighting at home and work and use bright colours.
With AMD we get several different problems and they progress slowly.
Our eyes, our retina starts to fail and the rods and cones start to deteriorate, so we have progressively greater difficulty in differentiating colours and also everywhere seems to get darker and darker.
1. So we need MORE LIGHT, in hallways, rooms, kitchens, lounge, offices, garages, pathways, pavements, otherwise it is all dark and gloomy.
For this we need lots of subdued lighting or lighting directly onto our working surface, documents, newspapers etc.Fortunately new technology is able to help us as LED bulbs use less power and give far more light, whilst still using the same light fittings.
For dark corners my wife found me some battery driven strip lights that react to PIR so they automatically come on and then stop, absolutely brilliant.
A WIN for every bulb you change.
2. We also need LESS LIGHT. Light that is pointed directly at us for example sun shining off wet pavements, shining off the sea, or bouncing off pure white buildings, or the light from car headlights, or even theatre stage lighting.
At home uplighters solve most of the problems though you will still have a problem with bright TV screens.
For other situations, in fact the default option, is to wear protection for the eyes. Personally I have chosen yellow tinted lenses for my glasses whilst still wearing a peaked cap (I have a choice of seven!)
3. A new approach to COLOURS is needed as we gradually select primary colours, dominant colours like yellow, red, blue and green, though recently I have added white where there is a good contrast.
Our lounge is painted cream, a fairly calm pastel shade which is great in contrast with red, blue and green.
We have a lot of white paint around the place, in the hall, stairs and landing and also the bathroom and the doors are all painted light grey. It all looks very smart and it is also light and bright.
I have written my comments about colour in the garden in Appendix 5 “Alan Titchmarsh was wrong.”
- Colours for going out.
I said I have seven caps, so let`s go through them:
– Yellow cap and waterproof goat for rainy days and durk or dark nights.
– Red cap and jacket for being spotted at stations and airports.
– Fawn cap with fawn trousers for indoor events.
– Dark blue cap for everyday use.
-White cap and jacket for going to tennis plus dark nights
– Light Blue caap with shorts for sailing.
– Dark grey cap with fur top for cold wintry days.
5. Space, give yourself more space.
After I fell headlong whilst working on the allotment, I noticed that I was giving everything a wider berth. So yes, I have:.
- started widening all the narrow paths on the allotment.
- altered my walks and shopping style so as to give way to all other pedestrians.
- -rearranged my wardrobe, cupboard and drawers to give me more space for folded items on shelves as well as more hanging space.
- and am continuously working to ensure the floors and stairs are clear of any obstruction.
Now it`s over to you.
Dozens of WINS available here.
Lots of little wins are wonderful for the sou and builds up to a big WIN.
You can rebuild your self-reliance, resilience and self-confidence.
AND CHEER UP YOUR WHOLE LIFE
…………………………
Winning against AMD – Age-related Macular Degeneration