Your eyes are as important as any other organ in your body. Our visual function is precious, and adequate care must be taken to preserve it. Unfortunately, many of us might yet not be aware of some of those household items and daily habits that could negatively impact our vision.
October is Home Eye Safety Month with the goal of creating awareness regarding simple eye-safety measures that ought to be followed daily at home. Here are some things you can do at home that ensure a long-lasting healthy vision.
Eat a balanced diet
Your body operates as a machine needing its different parts to achieve optimal health. With that being said, maintaining your health also supports healthy vision. To achieve this, your body must be loaded with Vitamin A, C, E, zinc, lutein, and omega-3 fatty acids. These nutrients are present in abundance in green leafy vegetables, fish, salmon, tuna, oysters, and nuts.
A healthy diet also helps minimize some of those illnesses and diseases that could impact your vision. If you have diabetes, adapting a well-balanced diet can help control blood sugar levels, which in turn may result in an optimum eye health. Lutein, antioxidants, and trace amounts of zinc are crucial to halt the onset and progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Additionally, uncontrolled serum glucose levels can cause nerve degeneration in the eyes, which may ultimately result in permanent blindness.
Use protective face shields or safety goggles
According to the American Association of Ophthalmology, roughly 45% of eye traumas occur at home. Some instances include when cooking with hot oil or water, drilling holes in walls, mowing the lawn, or even using sprays and cleaners.
Safety-goggles or face shields are important to protect your eyes in various situations. While doing handy work around the house be aware of the dust and small particles that are in the air. While cooking, smoke, excessive heat, or hot oil splatters can produce permanent damage to our eye sight. Ammonia isn’t a chemical that’s sitting freely at your counter, but it surely exists in insect-killers, hair dyes, window cleaners, multi-surface cleaners and furniture polish all of which can cause irritation and damage to your vision over time.
Face shields and safety goggles serve as a layer of protection that can prevent eye irritation or long-term damage to your eyes.
Clean your contact lenses
Any foreign object that enters unto you eye can cause irritation. Contact lenses are created in a super-sterile environment to ensure that no harm is brought to your eyes. In the absence of proper care of your contacts, bacteria and fungi can enter the cornea via the lenses, irritate its layer, and produce colonies of infection that may be lethal in some cases. Cleaning your contact lenses becomes important in this case. Use distilled water to thoroughly rinse them after using them. Change the water in your lens container frequently. Also, always wash your hands before touching your contact lenses.
Plan for a routine eye check-up
With several potentially harmful agents around us targeting our eyes every minute, it is crucial to have your eyes checked annually by a professional. Just like getting a physical check-up or a dental exam, visiting your eye-doctor can allow you to stay ahead of any changes in your vision or issues that may have arisen overtime.
Use Blue-light filters when using electronics:
It is impossible to always avoid electronics, but using blue-light filters can make a great difference in protecting your eyes. Blue light serves the purpose of keeping you alert while using electronics. In fact, it tricks your mind into thinking that it is daytime, yet can disrupt your sleep routine. Experts recommend using blue-light blocking glasses if you are unable to get away from your screen for 2-3 hours prior to bedtime. Doing so may support your sleep, cause less eyestrain, and minimize headaches from spending hours in front of your screen.
NURILENS’ offers blue-light filtering glasses that protect your eyes from the impacts of extended use of electronics. Shop our collection today.