Our eyes are our windows to the world. They’re what allow us to enjoy the majesty of the Grand Canyon or the beauty of the ocean. When a person loses his or her sight, a large part of his or her life is lost as well.
For this reason, you must take measures to optimize your eye health. Wondering which measures you should take? Here are the top game-changing eye health tips you should utilize.
Eye Health Tips to Optimize Your Vision
The key to good eye health is consistency. If you don’t consistently utilize the tips reviewed below, you run the risk of eye problems arising. That’s why you need to ensure that you do the following.
Eat the Right Foods
You already know the importance of a healthy and balanced diet. But did you know that your diet can affect your eye health? For this reason, you need to make sure that you’re eating the right foods on a consistent basis.
The foods which are best for eye health are those which are high in Vitamin E, zinc, Vitamin C, and Omega-3 fatty acids. These include but are not limited to tuna, salmon, citrus fruits, kale, spinach, nuts, beans, and eggs. Work these foods into your diet on a daily basis in order to combat the effects of cataracts and other age-related eye conditions.
Wear Your Sunglasses
The number of people who forego the use of sunglasses thinking that they’re little more than aesthetic accessories is staggering. The fact of the matter is that sunglasses are hugely beneficial. Not only do they block the sun from your eyes, but in doing so, they actually promote positive long-term eye health.
See, the sun’s UV rays have the potential to be destructive to the eyes. Over time, they can result in everything from cataracts to macular degeneration and more. By putting on sunglasses, you block your eyes from almost 100% of UV rays, ensuring that these conditions don’t arise.
Limit Screen Time
Not only can light from the sun cause harm to your eyes but the light from screens as well. Phone screens, computer screens, and TV screens all have the power to damage your eyes over the short and long-term, leading to everything from blurry eyes to dry eyes to near-sightedness and more.
The problem, of course, is that many of us must stare at screens regularly at work. The solution to this? Take eyes-off breaks every 20 minutes for around 20 seconds at a time.
Staring into the distance for 20 seconds can refocus your eyes, ensuring that they don’t go blurry or dry.
Spend Plenty of Time Outdoors
In order for the eyes to thrive, the corneas must receive oxygen on a regular basis. While you can get oxygen to the corneas without leaving the confines of your home, oxygen is not as plentiful inside.
This is why you need to make your way outdoors from time to time. Spending at least an hour outdoors every day will allow your corneas to absorb plentiful oxygen, eliminating dry eyes, itchy eyes, and a variety of other eye problems.
Schedule Regular Eye Appointments
Like all other parts of your body, your eyes require regular medical attention. Having your eyes assessed by an eye doctor on a regular basis allows you to catch small problems before they become big problems, and also ensures that you’re performing proper eye care over the years.
Eye exams are not just for those who need glasses. Everyone can and should benefit.
Curious as to eye exam frequency? A visit every year or two is usually the best practice, check out London Cataract Centre if you’re ever in the UK and looking for a top eye surgery.
Keep Your Hands Away from Your Eyes
A bad habit that’s shared by many is the rubbing of one’s eyes. This habit arises for a number of reasons (itchiness, a mental tick, etc.), but regardless of the reason for its existence, it’s detrimental.
See, the hands are almost perpetually covered with loads of bacteria. So, when you place your hands on your eyes, you are spreading bad bacteria to them. In the short-term, this causes infection; In the long-term, it can lead to cataracts and other serious eye conditions.
Prioritize Contact Care
Contact wearers are especially vulnerable to eye disease, as contacts are particularly prone to taking on bacteria. For this reason, if you want to maintain good eye health, you have to be diligent about the care of your contacts.
Make sure to take them out while you sleep. Make sure to store them in saline solution. And make sure to replace them before their expiration date.
Utilize a Humidifier
A surefire way to get dry eyes is to expose yourself to dry air. For this reason, if the humidity is down, you need to create your own.
How can you do this? By installing a humidifier. A humidifier will pump moisture into your home on a regular basis, ensuring that your eyes obtain the lubrication that they need to thrive.
Drink Plenty of Water
Another surefire way to make your eyes dry is to constantly deprive yourself of adequate hydration. By not drinking enough water, you not only cause yourself to feel sluggish, but you also zap necessary moisture from your eyes.
Most human beings are advised to down 8 8-ounce glasses of water a day in order to remain hydrated. However, if you’re on the bigger side, more might be needed.
Get Ample Sleep
You know that dull, yet aching feeling you get in your eyes after pulling an all-nighter? It’s a sign of a problem. Primarily, it’s a sign that your eyes are being subjected to too much strain.
If you want to keep your eyes healthy, you need to keep the all-nighters to a minimum. Ideally, you’ll get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each and every day.
On the Search for More Health Tips?
Now that you have some eye health tips at your disposal, you might be on the search for more health tips. If so, you’re in the right place. Western Pennsylvania Healthcare News has you covered.
Our site has tips on everything from cardiovascular health to muscular health to oral health and more.
Browse our other articles now!
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