We may not be able to control everything, but we can control some things. Maintaining eye health is one of them. Here are a few quick tips to keeping your vision the best it can be.
Watch What You Eat
That’s right; overall health is based in large part on your diet. Eating fruits and vegetables, especially dark leafy greens like spinach and kale, can provide the eyes with the type of nutrition they need. Also fish, such as salmon, tuna, and halibut, can supply the body with essential omega-3 fatty acids.
When you’re in a restaurant or supermarket, look around for these foods and add them to your diet.
Watch Your Weight
Stepping on a scale may not be your most favorite thing to do but your eyes will thank you for watching your weight. Being overweight increases your chances of developing diabetes which can lead to certain vision problems, like blindness. Monitoring your weight and keeping it within healthy guidelines is a positive way to maintain eye health by removing a negative factor from your life.
Watch Out for Bad Habits
Smoking is a bad habit and if you light up, it’s time to put out that cigarette. Research has shown that smokers increase their risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, and optic nerve damage. All of these conditions can lead to blindness. Smoking is just not worth the risk to your eyes.
Watch Out for Too Much Sun
Sunglasses will not only make you look cool, they will help block out damaging ultraviolet rays from the sun. Extended exposure to these UV rays has the potential of contributing to macular degeneration and cataracts. An especially painful condition, photokeratitis, is sometimes described as sunburn to the cornea. This happens when the eyes were not protected from the sun for a period of time. Symptoms include tears, pain, and a gritty feeling in the eyes.
Watch Out for Danger
If you don’t have a pair of safety glasses yet, please get them. You don’t need to be on a construction site to get an eye injury. Most accidents happen at home doing activities like yard work or simple house maintenance. Protecting your eyes with safety goggles or an eye shield stops a problem from even starting.
Watch the Time
Your eyes need to rest now and then, so monitoring certain activities is recommended. If you spend a good portion of each day on the computer, your eyes may get tired. When you are focusing on a computer monitor for a long period, you may actually be forgetting to blink which does not promote eye health. Try the 20-20-20 rule: for every 20 minutes spent at the computer, look away about 20 feet for about 20 seconds. This may help you avoid eyestrain and will definitely make you more aware of your eyes’ health.
Watch the Calendar
Having periodic vision exams can spot any problems you may be having. Diagnosing eye conditions or correcting vision errors with prescription glasses are ways to maintain eye health in a proactive way.
Put the “you” in eye health and put these tips to use.
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