In a survey conducted by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, almost 2 out of 3 American adults have reported eye or vision problems. However, the majority of this number failed to seek any medical attention.
Data further provided that 64 percent of adults have at least one or more eye problems, including blurry vision, difficulty seeing at night, seeing flashes of light, and having red, watery eyes.
How to Keep Your Eyes Healthy
1. Mind Your Screen Time
Spending a lot of time looking at the screens of your TV, computer, smartphones, and tablet can lead to tired eyes and cause eye strain. Also, the blue light coming from these screens can cause damage to your peepers.
What you can do to keep your eyes healthy is to follow the 20-20-20 rule. This means that for every 20 minutes you spent looking at your device screen, you should avert your gaze at something at least 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds.
Aside from this, follow good ergonomics when you are on the computer. Keep the computer screen at eye level and ensure you have adequate lighting. You may consider using screen filters to reduce glare.
2. Protect Your Eyes From the Sun
Not only do ultraviolet rays (UV) from the sun burn your skin, they can also cause harm to your eyes.
Excessive UV sun exposure leads to potential eye health problems, including cataracts, macular degeneration, and cornea burns. It can also lead to skin cancer in the eyelids.
To help keep your eyes safe from these UV rays, consider wearing sunglasses that could block 99 to 100 percent of UVA and UVB. Even on cloudy days, you should consider wearing them.
Wearing wide-brimmed hats and umbrellas may also do the trick in protecting your eyes from the harmful UV rays.
3. Protect Your Eyes at Work & Home
Eye injuries happen a lot at home and on the job.
It is reported that every day, about 2,000 people in the U.S. injure their eyes at work and need medical attention. 90 percent of these eye injuries could have been prevented if people wore adequate eye protection.
When working on any projects at home or work, opt to wear safety glasses to prevent debris from getting into your eyes.
Some sports like baseball, lacrosse, basketball, and racket can put your eyes at risk. Thus, when playing any of these sports, wear protective glasses or goggles.
4. Eat Food Good For Your Eyes
Do not forget to nourish your eyes.
The food groups which are good for your cardiovascular system are also good for your eyes. Foods which are right in zinc, lutein, beta-carotene, and zeaxanthin are protective for your eyesight. These nutrients help ward off or slow down macular degeneration.
Include in your diet dark leafy greens, grains, and citrus fruits. Poultry, oysters, lean meat, beans, peanuts, beans, and peas are rich in Zinc. Brightly-colored fruits and vegetables like oranges and carrots are rich in beta-carotene.
Consider checking with your eye doctor if you would benefit from taking vitamin and mineral supplements formulated to improve your eye health.
5. Tend to Your Eyes
If you have any eye problems, never overlook them. When suffering from red, itchy eyes, consider using eye drops or taking antihistamines. You may also apply a cold compress to reduce these symptoms.
If you think you have potentially critical eye problems like swelling, eye pain, or unusual sensitivity to light, see your ophthalmologist right away.
6. Mind For Other Health Conditions
Some health conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis can drastically affect your vision.
Thus, you must inform your current eye doctor of any current and past health conditions. With these pieces of information and a regular eye exam, your eye problem can be addressed in no time.
7. Be Careful with Makeup
Your eye makeup may harbor bacteria that can severely damage the health of your eyes.
It is imperative to replace any eye makeup and mascara you have every three months. If you develop any eye infection, toss out your eye makeup immediately and schedule an appointment with your eye doctor.
8. Schedule Regular Eye Exam
Seeing your eye doctor regularly is the key to good eyesight and healthy eyes. Even if you are not wearing any eyeglasses, getting your eyes and vision checked is important.
Eye exams can detect serious problems that require an operation, like keratoconus cross-linking surgery for patients with a thinning and weak cornea.
Do not take your eyes for granted. Instead, consider these easy practices to keep them healthy.
