Protect and Promote Great Eyesight – Here’s How!
Top tips for great healthy eyesight
At Envision Eye Care Oakville, we take pride in treating patients PLUS offering up great tips that focus on preventative health. Visit us today!
Eat well
Eating a balanced diet isn’t just a good idea for your waistline, it’s good for your eyesight, too! Including foods packed with antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids and nutrients like lutein, zinc and vitamins C & E helps maintain good eye health and keep possible age-related eye issues at bay. Eat foods like leafy green vegetables, salmon and other oily fish, eggs, nuts & beans, citrus fruits and colourful vegetables to get an adequate number of eyesight-boosting vitamins and minerals.
Use clean hands when touching your eyes
If you touch your eyes with less than clean hands, you can introduce bacteria and dirt into your eyes that can result in infections, colds, bacteria transfer and irritation. Wash you hands thoroughly with mild soap before doing anything the involves touching your eyes, including changing your contacts.
Don’t smoke
It’s fairly common knowledge that smoking is bad for our health, but it may not have crossed your mind that it’s also bad for your eye health! Smoking leaves you more likely to develop cataracts and macular degeneration, and increases the risk of damage to your optic nerve. If you do smoke, the sooner you quit, the sooner your eyes can start healing!
Wear sunglasses
Protect your eyes from the suns damaging UVA and UVB rays by wearing sunglasses any time you are outside. Even if it’s not a sunny day your eyes are still sensitive to the suns damaging rays. Wearing a hat can also help keep the sun out of your eyes and keep them protected. While the sun feels nice, too much exposure can lead to cataracts and macular degeneration. It’s easy to see when your skin has had too much sun, but your eyes don’t make it as obvious.
Wear protective eyewear
Protective eyewear is essential for many different situations, mostly commonly for work and sports. Wearing protective eyewear can help protect your eyes from any debris, hazardous materials, errant elbows and unfortunate hits.
Practice the 20-20-20 rule with screen time
Looking at a screen for extended periods can wreak havoc on your eyes after time. You can help combat this by putting the 20-20-20 rule into play. Every 20 minutes, spend 20 seconds looking at something 20 feet away. This helps give your eyes a rest from focusing on a screen very close to your face.
Spending too much time in front of a screen can cause your eyes to feel strained or dry and give you blurry vision or a headache so giving them time to recover is important.
Maintain a healthy weight
The chances of developing type 2 diabetes increase as weight increases, which is bad news for your eyes. Type 2 diabetes can lead to blindness if left untreated, so it is imperative to avoid it at all costs.
Don’t use old makeup
Bacteria likes to hang out and grow very quickly on old makeup, so putting it very close to your eyes can mean bad news for your eye health! You should replace any open makeup every 3 months to prevent against developing an infection. Be sure to never share eye makeup with others because you never know what kinds of bacteria could be getting shared.
Get regular eye exams
Regular eye exams are the best way to stay on top of your eye health. Get in to see your eye doctor so that they can keep an eye on any potential concerns will help you stay ahead of any problems that might come up.
Pay attention to any changes in your vision
Vision changes can indicate a problem, so as soon as you notice any changes you should make an appointment with your eye doctor. If you suddenly have difficulty seeing in low light, are getting double or hazy vision or are experiencing any pain or swelling make an appointment as soon as possible.