You might be relieved and happy to have finally had a surgical procedure to rid your eyes of the cataracts that have caused you some vision trouble. You may think that since they're gone, you don't have to think about cataracts ever again. However, your ophthalmologist is likely to explain that new cataracts may form inside your eyes. Luckily the following steps can be taken in order to keep the chances of recurrence very low.
There are so many reasons to ensure that you're eating a healthy, whole food diet. What you may not know is that it's important to your eyes; in particular, green vegetables like spinach, turnip greens, collards, and kale can be beneficial. That's because such foods contain two substances called zeaxanthin and lutein. Because they're antioxidants that can prevent so-called free radicals from causing damage in the body, there is evidence that they can cut down the likelihood that cataracts will develop. You may also want to ensure that beta-carotene and vitamin C, other antioxidants, are also well-represented in the foods you eat daily.
Shade Your Eyes in Sunlight
When you go out for a day on the beach, you probably bring along sunblock so that your skin can avoid UV rays. For some folks, those same rays may lead to eye cataracts. Don't forget to protect and shade your eyes when you'll be out in bright sunlight; whenever you break out the sunblock, put on sunglasses too.
Control Your Diabetes
If you've got diabetes, your ophthalmologist may have already explained to you that you may be at higher risk for vision and eye problems, including cataracts, because of high glucose levels in your blood at any time. Glucose in the bloodstream can affect the blood vessels and cause other trouble in the eyes, including cataracts. That's one of the reasons it's vital to check glucose levels and administer insulin as needed. Check with your primary care physician to ensure that your levels are within normal parameters to keep the chance of cataracts low.
Your eyes and your vision are important in your day to day life. The adjustments laid out here can enable you to avoid developing cataracts that can be inconvenient and uncomfortable. Be sure that you're doing one or all of the suggestions here and seeing your eye doctor or Jo Johnson, M.D. as regularly as you can; you might be able to avoid ever getting eye cataracts again.