Vision Health Tips and How To Take Care of Your Eyes

Updated on April 22, 2021

Nowadays, most health enthusiasts focus on weight and fitness and often forget about other parts of the body. Take eyes, for example. 

Chances are, because they’re small parts of your body, you don’t pay much attention to them. In reality, its functions are what helps you live normally. 

The problem is, eyes are quite fragile, and even the smallest eye issue can result in different types of vision problems that may affect your lifestyle. You can learn more about these problems from Mottopical’s article: Types of Eye Problems

Either way, you have to take care of your eyes before it’s too late. Thankfully, there are as many ways to take care of your eyes as there are numerous vision impairment causes. 

Below are seven tips to take better care of your eyes: 

  1. 20-20-20 Rule 

When asking for vision health tips, most experts will tell you this: “For every 20 minutes of screen time, you must look at an object 20 feet away from you for 20 seconds.” 

Dr. Jeff Anshell, a popular figure in vision ergonomics, was the one who came up with the 20-20-20 Rule, which aims to ensures that your eyes can rest by minimizing screen time. 

For your reference, screen time refers to when you’re doing some activities in front of a screen, including computer or smartphone use and watching TV. 

The good news is the chances of damaging your eyes due to excessive screen time is very low. But low still means the probability is not zero, so you still ought to be careful. 

  1. Include Foods for Eye Health 

Just like what they always say, “You are what you eat.” You can say the same with eye health. 

Certain nutrients like vitamin C, zinc, vitamin E, and others are related to eye health. Intake of these nutrients will promote healthier eyes and minimizes the chances of eye diseases. 

For that reason, it’s a good idea to eat foods that are rich in these nutrients, such as: 

  • Citrus fruits (i.e., oranges and lemon) 
  • Oily fish (i.e., tuna and salmon) 
  • Leafy green vegetables (i.e., collards and kale) 
  • Oysters 

Besides, a balanced diet not only helps the eyes but also other parts of your body. 

Female eye with long eyelashes close up
  1. Be Hygienic 

Eyes are quite fragile, especially to infections. If dirt often gets into your eyes, there’s a chance that you’ll get blepharitis or the swelling of your eyelids. When this happens, it may lead to vision problems, and you most definitely don’t want that. 

Here are two ways to make sure your eyes are always hygienic: 

  • Wash Hands: Most of the time, you touch your eyelids with your hands subconsciously. Although it’s quite hard to prevent that habit, you can at least wash your hands more often 
  • Keep Surroundings Clean: To ensure that your eyes are safe from dust and dirt, make sure your surroundings are clean by regularly cleaning and maintaining your house 
  1. Quit Smoking 

It’s a long-known fact that smoking has adverse effects on the heart and lungs, but you should also know that smoking may lead to eye problems such as the following: 

  • Macular Degeneration 
  • Glaucoma and Cataract 
  • Dry Eye Syndrome 

Remember that these disorders can lead to vision impairment and even vision loss. So, make sure you abstain from your smoking habits if you do have them, as soon as possible. 

If you’ve spent a considerable part of your life smoking, you can opt to look for eye care innovations to reverse the damage done. 

  1. Avoid Sunlight 

Just like how screens can damage your eyes, sunlight also has adverse effects on your vision, mainly because receiving too much UV light can damage the eyes, and the sunlight is the primary source of this UV light. Examples of eye problems as a result of the sun include: 

  • Eye cancers and cataracts 
  • Abnormal eye tumors 
  • Snow blindness 

Perhaps the best way to avoid too much exposure to UV light is to purchase sunglasses. For the best protection, you should check out sunglasses specifically designed to protect from UV rays

  1. Revitalize Your Eyes by Sleeping 

Much like how your body rests when sleeping, your eyes also refreshes while you sleep. This is the main reason why your eyes are closing by themselves when you’re sleepy. 

However, it’s not just a matter of automatically closing. Your eyes will also eventually lose their ability to maintain themselves by making waste products, resulting in infection if it happens quite often and later develop into vision problems. If you feel like you’re experiencing abnormal activities in your eyes due to sleepiness, call it a day and take your well-deserved nap. 

When should you visit your doctor? 

As previously said, it’s crucial to treat eye problems as soon as possible since their development is quick. One way to spot serious eye problems is by visiting your doctor or ophthalmologist

In addition to spotting vision issues, you can also check if you have other problems such as high blood pressure, lupus, diabetes, and the likes. You should visit your doctor at least twice a year, up to five times if you’re still relatively young. 

Wrapping Up 

Don’t just focus on boosting your self-esteem by monitoring your weight. Make sure you also maintain the proper health of your eyes. Despite being smaller than other body parts, they’re responsible for your comfortable life. 

With these tips, you can prevent severe eye problems and make full use of your eyes by always having them in perfect shape.

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