Keeping your eyes healthy is important, right? But when was the last time you thought about doing something that could actually not only help to protect your eyes but keep them healthy? We always talk about exercising to keep our body in shape, eating good food to stay healthy. But, how often do we pay heed to what are we doing to our eyes? In fact, we often torture the eyes by making them continuously stare at bright lights from computer screens, mobile phones and what not.
But, in this post we are going to get your focus to shift towards the things that will help you keep your eyes healthy. Here are some helpful tips. As you’ll see, some are common sense. Others may provide valuable insight. Here we go!
Don’t look directly into sunlight
Or, should we say look away from sunlight. Direct sunlight can damage your eyesight permanently, in the most extreme cases. We all have heard about UV rays form the sun damaging skin, and causing cancer. They do the same to the eyes as well. Exposure to UV radiation can put your eyes at a much higher risk of developing cataract, and damaging the eyes in general.
Keep your shades handy when you are outside
It becomes quite obvious after the above mentioned point that you must keep your protective eyewear handy whenever you get out in the sun. It is recommended to choose sunglasses with UVA and UVB coatings as they work the best to protect the eyes against UV radiations coming from the sun.
Listen to what the eyes are trying to say
Actions speak louder than words – right? So, why do you ignore common conditions like watery eyes, irritation and allergies? These are the ways your eyes are telling you that they need some extra care. Whenever any such thing happens to your eyes, rather than ignoring it, go ahead and get in touch with an eye specialist to get them tested.
Be careful when using contact lenses
Contact lenses are a great solution for people who really like to wear glasses. But, when it comes to using contacts you need to be pretty careful. What might amaze you is the fact that majority of people using contacts don’t take proper care of them. Careless acts like not washing hands before putting in contact lenses could lead to conditions like keratitis and conjunctivitis, both of which cause serious inflammation of the eyes.
Give your eyes the rest they deserve
Even a machine needs rest after working for a few hours. When it comes to eyes, we really use them carelessly. Ideally our eyes need at least a break of 20 seconds after every 20 minutes. You might not be able to follow this rule religiously, but what you can do is to make it a point to take break after every now and then. For example, keeping our eyes glued to a computer or mobile screen for so many hours a day necessitates that our eyes will need a rest during various times throughout the day. Make sure to take a break now and again to look off in the distance, blink and basically take the time to notice the beauty that is all around you.
Eat proper nutrition!
This seems relatively common sense, right? After all, everyone has heard the phrase ‘you are what you eat’. So if you eat more of the foods that are generally agreed upon to be healthy for your eyesight, then you’ll definitely be helping you peepers see better, for longer. We wrote an article on the subject a while back. Check it out to see what kinds of foods are fantastic for eye health!
With these simple tips you can eventually give your eyes the care they deserve and nurture them to stay healthy for years to come. Remember, you are lucky enough to have the luxury to see, and read. But there are so many people out there in developing counters who don’t have access to even basic eye care, and thousands are going blind due to this lack. There are good men like Dr. John Haines who are working their best to help such people by offering their services, but there is a lot more that we all can do to spread more awareness about eye care.
Think about it – and you will automatically start to care more about your eyes!
