The eyesight is crucial to our daily activities and wellness as a whole. Unprotected exposure of the eyes to UV rays, poor diet, and excessive staring at computers, TV, and smartphones screen could cause potential damages to the eyes. Thus, our eyes require adequate care and protection from any form of damage.
Here are healthy tips to protect your eyes from damage:
1. Eat Nutritious Foods
The kind of foods you eat is pivotal to keeping your eyes healthy. Eat food in nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, lutein, zinc, and vitamins C and E. These nutrients help prevent age-related vision problems like cataracts and macular degeneration. So, always eat foods that contain greens vegetables like spinach, collards, and kale. Also, consume more salmon, mackerel, sardines, tuna, eggs, nuts, beans, and other protein-rich sources. Take fruit like oranges and other citrus fruits. You can take oysters and pork but avoid beef.
2. Protect Your Eyes with Sunglasses
Excessive exposure to Ultraviolet (UV) rays increases the risk of having cataracts and macular degeneration. So, you need always to wear the right pair of sunglasses to protect your eyes from UV rays. Get a couple of shade that has wrapped around lenses for complete protection from all angles. And if you wear a contact lens, get the one that protects from UV rays
3. Use Safety Eye Wear
When playing sports like ice hockey, racquetball, and lacrosse with a high risk of eye injury, wear eye protection. These include helmets with protective face masks or sports goggles with polycarbonate lenses that will shield your eyes.
4. Avoid Long Stare At Computer Screen
Excessive unprotected stare at computers screen, smartphones, and TV can cause eye strain, blurry vision, dry eyes, and headache. To prevent these, move the screen to level your eyes with the top of the monitor. Also, use updated glasses or contact lenses suitable for looking at computers. You can avoid glare from windows and lights by using an anti-glare screen. Alternatively, Always rest your eyes every 20 minutes. Look 20 feet away for 20 seconds. Get up at least every 2 hours and take a 15-minute break. And to prevent dry eyes, blink more or try using artificial tears.
5. Quit Smoking
Smoking puts you at high risk of getting cataracts, damaging your optic nerve, and causing macular degeneration and other medical problems. Make efforts to quit the habit.
In conclusion, you need to always visit the doctor regularly for an eye test and check up to protect your eyes. It helps you to detect eye diseases with no symptoms like glaucoma. An optometrist can help you conduct proper eye tests and help with prescriptions. The opthalmologist, on the other hand, provides general eye care services and also performs surgery. Visit any of these two eye doctors for proper care of your eyes.