5 Tips for Healthy Eyes
Posted: August 15, 2022 | By: Stacy Croninger
Our eyes play an important role as one of our five senses. Do you take care of them the way you do the rest of your body? Eye health is just as important as the rest of your body, but often overlooked. What can you do to support your eyes? Very similar things that you do for your general health, with a few special things thrown in.
5 Tips to Help Keep Your Eyes Healthy
The following tips are recommended by multiple sources, including National Eye Institute, American Academy of Ophthalmology, and WebMD. Let’s dive in!
- Eat well. Proper nutrition is key to eye health, with nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, lutein, zinc, vitamins C and E possibly helping keep age related issues at bay. The good news is, that following the 90 For Life plan gives you a good base for these nutrients. If you’re looking for additional support, Ocutiv provides targeted vitamins, minerals, and more to support eye health.
- Quit smoking. Smoking makes it more likely that you’ll get cataracts, damage your optic nerve, and other medical conditions.
- Wear protective eye covering. Safety glasses and goggles protect your eyes from flying debris. Whether you are doing a home project, your job involves airborne materials, or you’re participating in an activity with flying items, you should wear eye protection. Activities you may not think about are riding your bike, swimming, drilling wood, or 4 wheeling.
- Wear sunglasses. Do you check the UV protection your sunglasses provide when buying them? Most people do not and your eyes are not protected. This article from the American Academy of Ophthalmology provides several infographics about UV safety. Here are a few things to keep in mind about protecting your eyes from the sun and UV rays.
- Your sunglasses should protect 99 to 100% of UVA and UVB rays.
- Wear sunglasses on cloudy days. Clouds don’t protect your eyes from UV rays.
- Darker glasses don’t mean more protection. Check the UV protection to know that the sunglasses are doing their job.
- Some medications, medical conditions, and eye colors increase your sun sensitivity. Check your medications or with your doctor to know if you are at more risk. Also, people with light-colored eyes (blue, hazel, or green) are more vulnerable to UV damage.
- Children should wear UV protective sunglasses as well. Sun damage to eyes is not just for adults.
- Look away from your computer screen. Staring at any screen, computer or phone, for too long can strain your eyes, make it difficult to focus on distant items, and dry your eyes, as well as other things. It is recommended that you take a break every 20 minutes and look at something that is 20 feet or so away for 20 seconds.
One additional suggestion, get regular comprehensive eye exams. Doing so can help identify problems earlier, especially for issues that may not have symptoms, like glaucoma. What is regular? Depends on your age, eye health, and risk for eye disease.
Keep your eyes healthy so you can enjoy the beauty that surrounds you!
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