8 Eye Care Health Tips for Better Vision
It is important to take care for your eyes, to ensure a good quality of life, and the guidelines for doing so are really quite simple, and well known. You will probably be aware of most of these tenets, and this article only aims to collate all of these guidelines at one point. Healthy eyes live in a healthy body, and the following are the tips for preserving your 6/ 6 or 20/20 vision.
A well balanced diet.
It goes without saying that a healthy balanced diet is the key to eye health. A diet rich in like Certain nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, lutein, zeathanthin, zinc, and vitamins C and E helps prevent degenerative eye diseases like Age Related Macular degeneration, AMD, and cataract. They are also essential for the lubrication of the ocular surface, preventing dry eyes. The age old “carrots for healthy eyes” emphasizes the importance of vitamin A for eye health, especially in children.
Therefore, you must ensure that your diet provides the optimal recommended daily dose of nutrients and micronutrients.
In addition, a balanced diet ensures that you do not become over weight, and keeps you safe from diabetes and heart disease, as well as increased blood cholesterol. All of these diseases are also associated with eye diseases which can be potentially vision threatening.
Protection from the sun:
Wearing sunglasses, hats and scarves outdoors protect you from the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun, which can cause cataract and Age Related Macular Degeneration too. In addition, UV exposure can also increase the incidence of eye problems like pterygium. Ocular surface neoplasia, which may be a precursor for eye tumors, like skin cancers, have also been linked to over exposure to sunlight.
The right sunglasses should shield the eye from both UV-A and UV-B radiation when outdoors, blocking 99% to 100% of UVA and UVB rays. Wraparound sunglasses (think of the superhero Krrish) help protect your eyes from the sides also. These sunglasses also protect your eyes from exposure to allergy causing agents in the environment, and decrease the incidence of dry eye. Polarized lenses may be used to reduce glare while driving, and also glare from snow while indulging in adventure sports at high altitudes.
Do not smoke
Smoking and tobacco are known to be seriously harmful for your health, and are associated with life threatening cancers also. Smoking is known to increase the risk of AMD and cataract. It also increases the incidence of dry eye. All doctors, regardless of their specialisation, advise their patients to stop smoking since tobacco and tar products only harm your body, predisposing it to disease.
Regular doctor visits: eye checks and general physical examination
There are several eye diseases which can only be picked up by a regular and comprehensive eye examination, since they do not have any symptoms in the early stages. An annual visit to the eye doctor, especially for school going children, and after the age of forty is essential. This helps your doctor in diagnosing and managing any eye problems at an early stage, which can often result in serious effects on your vision like amblyopia, AMD, glaucoma etcetera, especially since these disorders are often without symptoms. In addition, a regular physical examination to rule out systemic diseases like diabetes, cholesterol and high blood pressure is also critical to maintain your health and vision, since several of these diseases can also impact your eyes and vision.
Prevention of eye injuries
There is great merit in the saying, prevention is better than cure. You must wear the appropriate safety glasses or protective goggles when handling any equipment which involves chemicals or airborne materials, or fireworks. In case of welding, or hammering with chisel and hammer, you must protect your eyes and face with protective gear.
Sports injuries can also result in loss of vision, so it is essential to use protective glasses and gear when playing, as recommended. For example, helmets with special protective face masks or sports goggles with polycarbonate lenses can keep your eyes safe from cricket balls.
Appropriate use of computer, smartphones and television
Long hours with a screen device can result in several eye problems including:
Eye strain, pain and headaches
Dry eyes
Computer vision syndrome
Blurred vision
These are the general guidelines for keeping your eyes healthy when using screen devices:
Wear your glasses as prescribed, and ensure that the power of your glasses or contact lenses is correct and up to date.
Take frequent breaks.
Ensure that the font size, screen brightness and distance and angle of the screen are appropriate.
Remember to blink in order to prevent excessive dryness
Use preservative free, lubricating eye drops in case of dry eyes. If not controlled, seek immediate medical help.
In case of any discomfort that persists, or any decrease in vision, make sure you see your eye doctor
Exercises :Exercises, in general, are useful in maintaining your general health and well being. In addition, eye exercises have the added advantage of reducing the incidence of convergence insufficiency, sore eyes and tiredness of eyes. You must leanr the proper technique of eye exercises, and practice them regularly for healthy eyes.
Avoid steroid use and self-medication:With the increase in the quest for the perfect body, several youngsters resort to using steroid supplements as a short cut to acquiring the gym body. Similarly, the use of steroid eye drops is rampant in India for even trivial ailments, since they can be freely obtained from chemists, even without a prescription. These can cause serious vision threatening complications including cataract, glaucoma and corneal ulcers.
Beware of quacks and faith healers:
While there is great merit in considering alternate systems of medicines, you must make sure that the alternate therapy that you seek comes from a reputed and experienced practitioner. Since there is no regulation of quality in this field, people often are tempted to give up their long term treatments for an alternate system of medicine. In case you are using complementary therapy, you must discuss it with your eye doctor to ensure your vision remains perfect as always.