We rely on our vision every day, but when was the last time you considered eye health as part of your wellness routine? Even as a wellness director I had, if you pardon the pun, overlooked it. But, with new tech revolutionising how we look after our eyes, get set for eye tech to become the new health frontier.
When we think about wellness, we often focus on things like fitness, meditation, mental health, and nutrition. Eye health, on the other hand, doesn’t get a look in. In fact, the opticians is often portrayed a bit like the dentist – the sort of health admin that is irritating to squeeze into a busy schedule, deemed ‘unnecessary’ if you don’t need glasses, or even a little bit anxiety-inducing if you do.
I’ve been working as a wellness journalist for almost a decade and actually need glasses for long distances, but even I was guilty of not really giving my eyes a second thought – and was notoriously bad at remembering to wear my frames. Then, I noticed an intriguing shift in my email inbox – example after example of exciting eye health tech and services that were aiming to make our eyes a new priority. With digital eye strain and age-related conditions on the rise that’s never been more important.
Here is the expert advice and tried-and-tested eye health tech you can trust.
Why is eye health so important?
Modern lifestyles are hardly the best for our eyes. Not only are a lot of us not booking in for eye exams as often as we should (at least every two years), we are also probably guilty of engaging in eye health-draining activities too. That includes having our phones and laptops glued in front of our faces, working long hours, and frequent travel, which can lead not only to worsening vision but also headaches and fatigue.
“Our eyes are much more vulnerable than we realise and so many eye health issues are completely preventable or avoidable with just daily care or early attention,” reveals the optometrist and founder of Peep Club, Nicola Alexander-Cross. “I also think it’s important to remember that the eyes are really the window into our overall general health; the back of the eye (the retina) is the only place in the whole body where we can directly observe blood vessels – which is an extremely unique perspective on your overall cardiovascular health.”
How is wellness transforming our views on eye health?
Wellness in 2025 is all about preventative care, with longevity – aka the aim to live better for longer – the ultimate buzzword. So, you can understand why something as important as maintaining your vision feeds nicely into the concept.
“Today, I think that the wellness conversation is much less about looking good and more about also feeling good in 10, 20, 50 years from now,” says Alexander-Cross. “The pandemic inspired a change in our collective mindset about how fragile our health is and this wellness conversation has spilled over to many neglected areas including eye health, and our customers are more interested in actively taking care of their eyes.”
At the same time, the wellness world is falling in love with data. From full body health scans such as NEKO that help you plan ahead for health issues to tracking devices such as the Oura ring and our fitness watches, we all want to know more about ourselves from head-to-toe (eyes included). Couple this with a move from treating symptoms (aka going to the opticians only when you can no longer read the signs at airports or a menu in a restaurant) to proactively preventing those vision issues happening in the first place, and you get a boom in the launch of exciting tools and tech that can track and manage your eye health in real time.
The Opticians 2.0
The first place that eye tech is really making an impression is at the opticians: it turns out we have come a long way from only using simple letter boards and funny looking glasses:
“If you haven’t had an eye test in the past five years I think you’d be surprised what you can now have diagnosed in a matter of minutes by your local optometrist – multi-dimensional scans of the back of the eye are now routine – and these can be game changers in early identification of eye health issues,” says Alexander-Cross.
I discovered that first hand on my most recent visit to Boots Opticians on Oxford Street (and yes it had been a while), where I found myself sitting in front of a machine that was about to give my eyes a full MOT in a matter of seconds.
Leaning forward towards the Optomap device, one eye at a time, a bit like you would look through a telescope, the whole experience was done within seconds and the only hardship was trying not to blink as the flashes of light captured my eyes in detail I had never before seen. My optometrist then conducted my more usual eye test and together the results gave me the most complete picture of my current (and potentially future) eye health I could imagine.
In fact, the Optomap technology is really breaking new ground right now – showing your optometrist up to 82 per cent of your retina in a single photograph (compared to traditional retinal scans that capture only 15 per cent). That’s significant because “this increased image size can help optometrists to detect signs of undiagnosed health conditions both faster and sooner and when detected early enough, many retinal problems can be treated to help preserve good eye health,” explains the clinical services proposition manager at Boots Opticians, John Hopcroft.
Best of all, it’s not just helping your eye health either. The innovative machine can also help optometrists detect signs of other undiagnosed health conditions, including hypertension and diabetes, because, it turns out, the eyes really are the windows to the soul (or at least your health).
“The eye is the only place in your body where blood vessels can be directly viewed and so any issues with the blood vessels in the eye could also indicate to optometrists that a patient may have issues elsewhere in the body,” says Hopcroft. “As some disorders do not cause pain or symptoms, anyone can benefit from an Optomap scan to find out more about their eyes and their wider health, and the scan is quick, non-invasive and painless.”
At-home tech
Outside the world of the opticians, the eye health sector is really driving at-home tech innovation too. It’s certainly not just about unsexy eye drops for when your eyes aren’t feeling their best anymore.
High-tech specs
Perhaps the most headline grabbing has been the rise of smart glasses – technology which was once the stuff of science-fiction. These wearables such as Meta’s collaboration with Ray Ban no less, are no longer just a tech gimmick but can help users manage their eye health by offering features like anti-glare protection, real-time vision tracking, and even reminders to take breaks from screen time.
Blue light-blocking glasses are also becoming a more popular option for anyone who spends long hours in front of their laptop or phone screen. After all, while research suggests that blue light from digital devices can definitely cause eye strain and contribute to long-term vision problems, our constantly connected world is unlikely to make full digital detoxes that practical or desirable. Our top pick: Ocushield Anti-Blue Light Glasses.
Don’t want to wear glasses at all? There are plenty of apps – such as One Sec or LookAway – that make it easy to track and limit your screen time too, using algorithms to recommend proper usage, optimal lighting settings, and even exercises to relieve eye fatigue. Such advancements have made eye health tech more accessible than ever before.
Pamper and perfect
In recent years, our beauty routines have also become little acts of self-care – where we can take a moment for ourselves as well as working to enhance our appearance. Eye health is now neatly slotting into that realm too, through tools and treatments that effortlessly combine health consciousness with a little bit of pampering.
Peep Club’s latest launch, the Heated Eye Wand LED+ (out April 10th) incorporates not one but five eye-boosting technologies that have been tested and approved by optometrists for at-home use – something that would only have been seen at a dermatology clinic in years gone by. The temperature-controlled hot compress brings comfort to dry, tired eyes; gentle massage improves circulation to depuff; red LED light boosts collagen and elastin production; green LED light is healing and anti-inflammatory; and amber LED light reduces redness and dark circles. The last two are considered the very latest light therapy solutions for overall eye health.
Equally in-clinic at Dr Nyla Medispa, the award-winning EMFace technology that has been lifting and sculpting almost every beauty insider’s face has now been adapted for an eye version. The non-invasive treatment that has been dubbed a ‘workout for your face’ can be used to tackle eye bags, dark circles and crow’s feet using EMFace’s HIFES muscle stimulating energy and skin-tightening radiofrequency, all without any side effects or downtime.
So what does the future hold?
From cutting-edge optometrist tools to at-home devices that protect and pamper your eyes, the eye health landscape is rapidly evolving – and so should our mindset around it. Whether it’s supercharging your next opticians appointment (after remembering to book one in!) or giving your eyes a helping hand at home, the future of wellness really does feel rather eye tech led.
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