When we look through blogs and articles about health, it’s almost always about how we can better care for our muscles, bones, hair, skin, feet, and hands. But, we hardly ever talk about how we can keep our eyes healthy and improve eyesight. And this is a little bizarre because we depend on our vision.
To make matters worse, our eyes are encountering a massive problem right now due to the screens we face daily. We’re putting more and more stress on our eyes, but at the same time, we’re also giving less and less attention to them.
If you want to improve your vision and decrease your odds of developing eye problems in the future, there’s no better time than now to adopt better eye care habits. Read on below!
1. Always Keep Your Hands Clean
The simplest things are almost always the ones you must look out for. For example, touching the eye with an unclean hand can spread many common infections that will affect your eyesight.
Staph, pink eye, and even chlamydia and gonorrhoea can spread from hands to eyes. These bacterial and viral illnesses can permanently harm one’s eyesight.
Reduce the risk of these eye diseases by creating a healthy hand-washing routine. Remember that the rule of thumb here is to avoid touching anything near your eyes if you haven’t washed your hands.
2. Wear Protective Eyewear!
If you’ve spent most of your life dealing with power tools or lawnmowers, it’s easy to get careless. Nothing has happened so far, so why bother?
However, it only takes one incident for anything to get lodged in your eye. Don’t wait for this to happen, as it will not only cost you a pretty penny, but it might also damage your vision for the long term. Always put on eye protection while near equipment that shoots debris.
Also, remember that the sun is out to get you most of the time. When it becomes too excessive, UV exposure will damage your eyes. This will increase your risk of cataracts, eye cancer, and growths in the eyes, such as pterygium. So choose sunglasses that will provide you with adequate UVA and UVB protection.
3. Don’t Forget To Take A Screen Break
When you work long enough in front of a computer, you might begin to feel discomfort around your eyes. This might lead to blurry vision or headaches that eventually interfere with your tasks. If you’ve ever encountered this, you might be suffering from digital eye strain.
You can use eye drops to relieve some of the pain. Another technique is to take screen breaks and follow the 20-20-20 rule. It’s basically just looking away from the screen for 20 seconds every 20 minutes at anything about 20 feet away.
Alternatively, you can step away from the screen and walk around your house or office for a few minutes.
4. Practice A Healthier Lifestyle
Your overall health will always have an impact on every part of your body—including your eyes. So having a nutritious diet is the way to go if you want to maintain good eye health for the rest of your life. This will help reduce your risk of night blindness, age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, and other eye problems.
If you want to improve your vision, add these foods to your plate:
# Fish that are high in omega-3, such as salmon and tuna
# Lutein-rich leafy greens, including kale, spinach, and collard greens
# Protein-rich eggs with other vital micronutrients
# B vitamin-rich whole grains like barley and quinoa
# Vitamin C from citrus and bell peppers
A healthy lifestyle wouldn’t be complete without movement! Exercise lowers stress, controls blood sugar, and improves blood circulation. All of these are great for staying in shape and maintaining your eye health. So go out there and boost your physical activity!
Don’t forget about hydration! Drinking water is good for your eye health because our eyes are surrounded by a fluid that protects our vision by washing away dust and dirt every time you blink. So drink up to keep a healthy balance of fluid in the eye.
Lastly, a good night’s rest is another secret to healthier eyes. Your eyes require at least five hours of sleep each night to replenish and function properly during the day. If you don’t get enough sleep, you may experience dry eyes, twitching eyelids, and eye discomfort.
5. Have Your Eyes Checked Regularly
The National Eye Institute says that the only way for adults to ensure their eyes are in perfect condition is to have a thorough dilated eye exam regularly.
During this examination, an eye care professional will use specialized drops to widen the patient’s pupils so they can see into the back of the eyes and check for issues. A dilated eye exam can aid in the early detection of eye problems, including glaucoma and macular degeneration.
Many eye conditions can be controlled, reversed, or prevented when detected early.
Keep An Eye On Your Eye Health!
You don’t have to overcomplicate taking care of your eyes. Instead, by simply practicing the steps and habits above, you’ll be able to improve or maintain not only your eyesight but your overall health as well.
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