March is National Save Your Vision Month! Over 20 million Americans suffer from severe vision loss. Poor vision can make it difficult to do daily tasks such as reading, driving and cooking. As we grow older, vision problems become more prevalent, which makes it very important to begin taking preventative measures from a young age. Although not all vision problems can be prevented, many can be treated if caught early. Taking care of your eyes can also benefit your overall health. Follow these seven tips to preserve, protect and take care of your eyes.
- Eat right to protect your sight. Eating a well-balanced diet can help keep your eyes healthy. Super foods like salmon, blueberries, and other fruits and leafy greens like spinach, kale and collard greens are packed full of nutrients that are great for your eyes. Fish like salmon, tuna and halibut are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which can decrease the risk of developing glaucoma, macular degeneration and dry eye syndrome.
- Exercise. Regular physical activity can help protect your eyesight. Getting thirty minutes per day of physical exercise benefits so many parts of your body and life, from your heart to increasing your day-to-day energy. It also helps prevent eye diseases linked to diabetes and moderate exercise can be a factor in glaucoma prevention. Something as simple as going for a walk three times during the week can lower your intraocular pressure and improve blood flow to the retina and optic nerve.
- Be in tune with your eyes. Have you noticed changes in your vision? Do you have trouble seeing certain things or is your vision blurry? If your eyes are bothering you, be sure to schedule an appointment with your Midwest Eye Consultants eye doctor, so he or she can assess if you have any changes in your prescription. Keeping up on annual eye health exams is important to assess how your eyes are working together and to evaluate your eyes for overall health.
- Wear your shades. The sun’s rays can impact your eyesight and eye health. Some of the sun’s effects on the eyes include cataracts, macular degeneration and pterygium (a tissue growth over the white part of the surface of the eye that can alter the curve of the eyeball, which causes astigmatism). Be sure to choose sunglasses that block 99-100% of UV radiation.
- Let your eyes rest. Many of us spend hours every day looking at a screen for work, school or watching your favorite television show in the evenings. This can strain your eyes and cause other effects on the body such as headaches, blurred vision, neck and shoulder pain and dry eyes. Be sure to follow the 20/20/20 rule to give your eyes a rest. Every 20 minutes, look about 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
- Don’t smoke. Smoking is related to many adverse health effects, which include age-related macular degeneration. Studies have shown that smokers and those who have quit smoking are more likely to develop AMD than people who never smoked. Smoking also puts you at an increased risk of developing cataracts.
- Protect your eyes. More than two million eye injuries occur every year. Eye injuries can happen during sports and home projects. Proper eyewear should be worn during these activities to keep your eyes protected and prevent injury. Ask your Midwest Eye Consultants optometrist about what you should be wearing to protect your eyes during the activities you participate in.
Schedule an appointment today!
Sources: National Eye Institute & American Academy of Ophthalmology
I like how you said that keeping up your annual eye car service exam would be important to keep them working well and being healthy. We just moved to a new area and have to find all of our health providers. We’ll have to see if there are any recommendations we can get for an eye doctor to ensure that our kids can get glasses and things if necessary.
Todd, annual eye exams are definitely very important! Your eyes can change over time and monitoring those changes is essential to your eye health and your vision! Thank you for the comment. Good luck finding your providers!
Very informative! These are the best tips for maintaining eye health. I really appreciate this article. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome Harvey. Thank you for the comment!
I never knew that regular exercise can help your vision and eye health. I had to get treated for a small eye infection this year. Thanks for the tips on healthy vision.
Sutton, glad we could inform you about exercise and the effect it has on vision, eye health and also total body health. Thanks for stopping by!
I’ve been experiencing a blurry vision lately, which often affects my job. Therefore, I have decided to look for an eye doctor who can run certain tests on me. If I have just been mindful, maybe I could have still followed your advice of regular exercising and consumption of salmon, blueberries, and other fruits, so that this problem could have been prevented.
Rachel, we’re sorry to hear you’ve been experiencing blurry vision. We hope you get some answers. If you are in our area, feel free to schedule an appointment!
Thank you for reminding me that I should never forget my sunglasses since being exposed directly to the sun can damage my eyesight and eye health. I spend long hours under the sun and it is a good thing that I read your article first before further exposing myself to harmful UV rays. It might also be a good idea to look for clinics that provide emergency eye care services just in case I experience blurry vision due to prolonged exposure.
For Better Eye vision explanation is useful for all.