There are varying degrees of macular degeneration, or age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and many helpful articles about it online and elsewhere. The macula is a tiny area in the middle of the retina, which helps you to see objects directly in front of the eye. When the cells in the macula are damaged it is called macular degeneration and means that objects in the middle of your vision start to look distorted or blurred.
We are often asked which magnifier is best for people with this condition but different people are affected in different ways: there is no 'one size fits all' solution. We always recommend that you seek professional advice from your local optometrist or eye clinic.
However we recognise that this is not always practical: maybe you cannot travel easily to your local optician or perhaps you are trying to find a magnifier for an older relative with macular degeneration who lives far away. For such reasons many people really do want us to make some kind of recommendation so we hope the following advice is of some assistance.
In general terms we find that magnifiers with LED illumination tend to be most helpful to people with macular degeneration. We presume this is because the extra bright white light best helps create contrast so that text is highlighted more clearly. Again we would emphasise that nothing can beat an on-the-spot assessment but if you do wish to purchase from us then we have a wide range of LED options, of which the
Eschenbach Mobilux LED,
COIL Autotouch and
COIL LED ranges are all highly regarded for their excellent build quality and superb optics.