Your Eye Health play a vital role in your overall health. You use your eyes to monitor everything and make sense of the things and events you see. To simply put, you use your eyes for everything you do. And so, having good eye vision is vital to help you perform well in school, work, and other daily functions and responsibilities.
Unfortunately, Eye Health as important as your eyes are, they’re also among the parts of your health that are easily overlooked. Sometimes, you only pay attention to your eye health when you’re already experiencing some eye-related health issues.
Thus, Eye Health each of you must take a few steps in caring for your eye health and ensure your vision is at its best.
What Are The Steps To Maintain Good Eye Health?
Taking care of your eye health doesn’t necessarily involve taking expensive eye supplements or wearing special eye equipment. It’s more on incorporating healthy habits and doing a few lifestyle changes that can help boost your vision and eye health.
For your guide, here are ten easy steps to help you maintain good eye health.
- Avoid Rubbing Your Eyes
One of the common mistakes people make that puts their eye health at risk is rubbing their eyes. Your hands are prone to dirt, dust, and other germs that could easily transfer to your eyes every time you rub or touch them. So, as much as possible, fight the urge of putting your hands into your eyes to prevent irritation and infection.
If your eyes are irritated, itchy, or infected despite not rubbing them, it may be best if you visit the best eye clinic in your area and have them checked by an eye doctor. Rubbing them more will only worsen the irritation and itchiness. The doctor will know the root cause of the irritation and perform proper treatments.
- Eat Healthily
Like the rest of your body, good eye health also relies on your eating habits. To have a better vision and maintain good eye health, make sure your diet includes food rich in vitamins C, E, zinc, lutein, and omega-3 fatty acids.
These nutrients help reduce your risk for vision problems like cataracts and degeneration. You can reap these nutrients from food like:
- Green and yellow leafy vegetables
- Eggs, beans, nuts
- Tuna, Salmon
- Citrus fruits
- Pork and oysters
Eating healthily won’t only promote your eye health, but it’ll also help you maintain a healthy weight. With a healthy weight, you can reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes and obesity, which can cause blindness in adults.
- Shield Your Eyes From The Sun
Exposing your eyes to the sun could damage your eyes and put you at risk for eye diseases like cataracts, degeneration, photokeratitis, and cornea sunburn. So, when going out under the sun, shield your eyes by wearing contact lenses or, better yet, UV-protected sunglasses.
Sunglasses aren’t only designed as a fashion statement, but their primary function is to protect your eyes from severe sun exposure. Besides sunglasses, you can also wear hats or caps for eye protection.
- Wear Protective Eye Wear
Aside from the sun, your eyes can also be at risk for injuries due to certain activities like playing sports, working on construction or factory, or repairing projects at home. To prevent eye injuries, make sure you wear protective eyewear that’s appropriate for the activities you do.
For instance, if you’re going swimming, remember to wear goggles to protect your eyes from chlorine. If you’re renovating or gardening, wear eye safety gear to shield your eyes from debris, dust, bacteria, and other particles that could cause eye injuries.
- Quit Smoking
You probably already know how smoking is dangerous and deadly to one’s health. Not only does it damage your lungs, brain, and heart, but smoking can also put you at risk of developing eye-related diseases like cataracts and degeneration.
Moreover, smoking can also impair your optic nerves, which can deteriorate your vision as you age. So, if possible, motivate yourself to quit smoking and completely kick that habit out of your life. Your eyes and your overall health will thank you.
- Get Regular Exercise
Aside from the well-known fact that regular exercise brings numerous benefits to your physical and mental health, it can also help maintain good eye health.
Exercising helps prevent high cholesterol, high blood pressure and prevent the risk of diabetes. These diseases are all factors that could lead to vision problems in the future.
Furthermore, exercise also promotes blood circulation, which is essential in providing oxygen into your eyes and removing eye toxins. So, make an effort to incorporate a few minutes of exercise into your daily schedule.
- Wash Your Hands
As mentioned earlier, you’re discouraged from rubbing or touching your eyes with your hands. Your hands have probably touched so many dirty and dusty items, and you could transfer all those bacteria into your eyes once you touch or rub them. These germs from your hands could cause eye infections like conjunctivitis (pink eye).
But on instances wherein you need to touch your eyes (e.g., wear or remove contact lenses, sunglasses), always wash your hands first. Use a mild soap, wash your hands for 30 to 60 seconds, and dry them with a lint-free towel. Better yet, practice washing your hands regularly.
- Take Care Of Your Contact Lenses
For people who frequently use contact lenses, make sure you take precautionary steps to ensure they are clean and free from germs. Place your contact lenses in their proper container to protect them from contamination.
Clean them regularly according to the instructions on their container, and always replace them immediately once you see signs of damage or dirt contamination.
- Get Enough Sleep
Like your body, your eyes need to be revitalized, too, after a long day of using them. So, let your eyes repair and rejuvenate themselves by getting enough sleep every night. With a deep and peaceful shut-eye, your eyes will remain healthy.
- Let Your Eyes Rest
Besides getting enough sleep, you also need to give your eyes enough time to rest during the day, especially if you’re constantly using the computer. To prevent eye dryness and eyestrain, always remember the 20-20-20 rule, in which it says:
- Every 20 minutes, fix your gaze on an item that’s 20 feet away from you. Do this for 20 seconds. This will allow you to take a break from looking at the computer monitor.
- Blink 20 times.
- Get up and take 20 steps every 20 minutes. This will give your eyes time to rest and do something apart from staring at the screen. Furthermore, this also promotes blood circulation and proper posture after sitting for long periods.
Takeaway
These steps above will help protect your vision and keep your eyes healthy. So, make sure to incorporate these simple habits into your daily routine, and you can ensure that you’re safe from eye problems even as you age.