Vision Care – Eye Care Professionals | What to Know

Eye Care
Eye Care

Yes! The eyes are vital. First, they capture light. Then, different parts of the eye, work together, connect with neurons that deliver a message to the brain as visual images.

Read on for some tips on how to take care of your vision.

  1. Eat Well

Yes! The health of your eyes is dependent on the foods you ingest. Eating food rich in Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Zinc, and Lutein protects your eyes from cataracts and macular degeneration. These nutrients are found in meals containing:

  • Green leafy vegetables
  • Pork and oysters

Eating right also helps check your body weight. This decreases your risk for obesity-related complications like diabetes. As you know, diabetes is known to cause blindness in adults.

  1. Get Regular Eye Checkups

We must do everything possible to take care of our eyes. Going for regular eye checkups helps detect vision problems early allowing for prompt corrective measures. Don’t wait until it is too late for your eye exam. We can do this by visiting an optometrist regularly for an eye exam. The exams are vital for the prevention of different conditions that don’t have obvious signs or conditions. A thorough diagnosis helps detect any problem with your eyes. With this, it becomes easier to apply the right treatment to save your eyesight.

If you see any slight change in your eyesight, visit an eye care provider. With their knowledge and expertise, they’ll identify serious eye problems like glaucoma, cataracts, and retinopathy at a treatable stage.

And, yes there are different types of eye care providers. They are:

  • An Optician who distributes contact lenses following a doctor’s prescription.
  • An Optometrist who undertakes vision tests, eye exams to diagnose and treat eye diseases. Further, they prescribe the right medication and contact lenses.
  • An ophthalmologist who diagnoses and treats various eye diseases. They prescribe contact lenses and do surgery for vision correction where necessary.
  1. Wear Sunglasses

Are you going to spend an afternoon on the beaches? Get the right pair of sunglasses to protect your eyes from the harmful UV rays. Exposure to harmful UV rays boosts your chances of contracting different eye diseases like cataracts and macular degeneration.

If possible, get a pair of shades that blocks 99 percent to 100 percent of ultraviolet rays. If you wear contact lenses, some have UV protection while others don’t. Check with your eye doctor on whether you need to wear sunglasses for an extra layer or not.

  1. Quit Smoking

Smoking is not good for your eyes. It makes you vulnerable to various eye diseases like cataracts and macular degeneration. Further, smoking is known to damage optic nerves.

If you want to take care of your eyesight, then stop smoking. Even better, ask your doctor for advice on how to quit the habit.

  1. Check Whether You Are at Risk for Eye Disease

The risk for eye diseases increases with age. Other factors like family history and obesity also predispose us to various eye conditions.

Other medical conditions like diabetes and blood pressure also expose us to different eye conditions. For example, diabetes increases the risk for retinopathy – an eye condition that results in blindness.

So, are you worried that you may be prone to a certain eye condition? Talk to an optometrist who’ll advise on precautionary measures to protect your eyesight.

  1. Use Safety Eyewear

Do you use hazardous or airborne materials at home or on the job? Then wear protective goggles or safety glasses.

Sports like lacrosse, racquetball, and ice hockey can also lead to an eye injury. Always wear eye protection when playing them. A good example would be sports goggles with polycarbonate lenses or helmets with protective facemasks.

  1. Avoid Rubbing Your Eyes

Our hands are exposed to a lot of dust, dirt, and bacteria. And yes, you can easily transfer these to your eyes each time you rub or touch them. Thus, avoid rubbing your eyes to prevent irritation or infection. If this is habitual, try your best to get rid of it.

  1. Limit Your Exposure to Digital Screens

Most people spend hours using digital devices like tablets, laptops and cell phones. Well, these electronic devices emit blue light waves that damage your eyes over time. The good thing, you can help your eyes filter the blue light by taking lutein supplements.

Further, keeping the digital screens at least 24 inches away from you, minimizing glare and adjusting lighting helps. Also, we tend to blink less when using digital screens, therefore, make an effort to blink more often.

Lastly, take a break every 20 minutes to rest your eyes by focusing on an object 20 feet away for 20 seconds.

  1. Take Your Contact Lenses Out at The End of the Day

If you wear contact lenses, avoid wearing them continuously for more than 19 hours daily. Wearing them for too long results in extreme discomfort to your eyes or permanent vision damage. You don’t want this to happen.

Therefore:

  • Never go to bed with your contact lenses on unless with a doctor’s prescription. But why? The eyes need a constant supply of oxygen and the contact lenses block this flow of oxygen to the eyes especially when sleeping.
  • Avoid swimming with your contact lenses on. If it’s a must, use prescription Google instead.
  1. Remove Eye Makeup at The end of Day

Makeup helps boost one’s confidence and self-esteem. However, never go to bed with your eye makeup on. Why? If you go to bed with eyeliner or mascara on, it may get into your eyes resulting in irritation.

Also, sleeping with makeup on may clog the eye pores around the eye. The best way to ensure this happens is having the makeup remover pads near your bed for times when you’re too tired to go through the nighttime cleaning routine.

Conclusion

Taking part in our vision care helps improve the health of our eyes. Be sure to contact a competent optometrist for advice and guidance on how to maintain our eyesight for life.

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I'm NOT a doctor! I'm just passionate about health and healthy leaving. The information on this website, such as graphics, images, text and all other materials, is provided for reference and educational purposes only and is not meant to substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professional. The content is not intended to be complete or exhaustive or to apply to any specific individual's medical condition.