Prevention is a cure, as they say. If you follow the best practices to care for your eyes every day, you can protect them against threats. Here are some tips you should incorporate into your daily eye care routine.
Avoid rubbing your eyes
Touching your eyes frequently might cause irritation or eye infection. Most of the time, your hands are exposed to dust, dirt, oil, and bacteria. So, as much as possible, avoid touching your eyes.
Otherwise, you increase your chance of developing glaucoma, since the pressure caused by prolonged rubbing can damage the optic nerve, resulting in some blind spots in your visual field. People who have developed glaucoma should get the best glaucoma treatment from their trusted health professionals to ensure success.
Keep your weight healthy
Obesity and being overweight can increase the possibility of developing diabetes. In the same way, people with diabetes have a higher risk of developing glaucoma or diabetic retinopathy.
Eat a balanced diet
Include many vegetables and fruits into your diet, mainly leafy green and yellow vegetables. Adding more foods loaded with omega-3 fatty acids into your meals — such as halibut, salmon, and tuna — is also recommended. According to studies, omega-3 fatty acids treat dry eye syndrome and reduce the risk of many eye-related diseases like glaucoma.
Rest your eyes
If you use your computer for long periods, there’s a chance you might forget to blink, which makes the eyes more tired. Relieve eye strain by applying the 20-20-20 rule. You have to look about 20 feet forward every 20 minutes for 20 seconds in this rule.
Wear sunglasses
Your eyes might hurt from sun exposure, and increase your risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cataracts. Wear sunglasses to protect your eyes, particularly those that block 99% to 100% UV-A and UV-B radiation.
Exercise regularly
As mentioned earlier, diabetes increases the risk of eye-related diseases like glaucoma. You can control or prevent diabetes and regulate your blood pressure and cholesterol level with regular exercise. These parameters can result in vision or eye problems when not regulated. Accordingly, you can minimize the risk of developing these health issues if you exercise regularly.
Avoid smoking
Age-related macular degeneration is more prevalent for people who smoke. Just as smoking is bad for the rest of the body, it also increases your risk of developing diabetic retinopathy, dry eye syndrome, cataracts, and glaucoma.
Take extra care when wearing contacts
When putting and removing contacts, make sure to wash your hands first. Aside from that, clean them properly and replace them when necessary.
Wear protective eyewear
You can protect your eyes from eye-related injuries by using protective eyewear. Wear them when working at construction or factories, playing specific sports, and doing projects or repairs in your home.
Conclusion
In conclusion, people rely on their eyes to make sense of the world. For this reason, it’s best to start preventing possible vision-related issues as early as possible. Overall, combining a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle is the best way to take care of your eyes.