SHARES
“My eyesight is getting blurry, going from bad to worse. Those thick glasses do not look good on me, contact lens are causing my eyes to feel dry and uncomfortable. It seems like a vicious cycle, where the less I wear glasses or contact lens, the worse my vision becomes.” Kim is trying to find the best way out for her eye vision problem.
Matter of fact, of the five senses that we are all blessed with, the one we depend on the most is our eyesight. We gather the most information about our surrounding environment through our eyes. Also, we relay a large part of our intentions through eye contact. Thus, it is extremely important for us maintain healthy eyes in our daily living.
Maintaining Healthy Eyes right at home
1. Eat a Well-balanced Diet
Our eyes need certain nutrients to function properly. For instance, vitamin A is useful in improving our night vision. This can prevent falls and injuries due to night blindness.
Likewise, nutrients like lutein, zinc, vitamin C, and omega-3 fatty acids are necessary for formation of healthy eye cells. Adequate intake of these nutrients can prevent and delay age-related degeneration of eye tissue (macular degeneration), which is a common cause for vision blurring in the elderly. Examples of food rich in these nutrients include green leafy vegetables like spinach and kale, tuna, salmon, eggs, nuts, citrus fruits like oranges, oysters, etc.
2. Keep Your Medical Conditions In Check
A major cause for vision loss and deterioration is damaged tiny blood vessels in our eyes. Medical conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure are common culprits that injure blood vessels in our eyes. Therefore, practise an active lifestyle and take meals in moderation. Cut down our fat and sugar intake.
If we already have diabetes or problem with our blood pressure, it is important to keep them under control. As high sugar and high pressure can damage blood vessels, make sure to take medications on time. Get regular medical check ups to monitor eye health. Keep a blood pressure and blood sugar diary at home together with our medications for self-monitoring and to avoid missing our pills.
3. Stop Smoking
Cigarette smoking not only can worsen our medical conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure, but also impacts our eyes health directly. This raises our risks for getting cataracts, as well as macular and optic nerve degeneration.
Note that smoking cessation can be difficult due to the presence of addictive nicotine in cigarette smoke. It is normal to feel like smoking again even if you have decided and determined to quit. Often, relapses are inevitable and are part of the process of smoking cessation. Get help from your doctor especially if you are experiencing withdrawal symptoms. For the sake of healthy eyes and overall health, quitting smoking is one of the best thing to do.
Photo by IAPB/VISION 2020 from Flickr
4. Wear Your Glasses
For people with eyesight problem such as short-sightedness, long-sightedness and uneven eye surface (astigmatism), make sure to put on your corrective eyewear. It must be remembered, the more we strain our eyes without putting on eyeglasses, the more our eye muscles become fatigued. Eventually our vision would deteriorate. Having corrected vision is a way to maintaining healthy eyes.
Another care routine which cannot be overlooked is to clean and change your contact lenses everyday. Contact lens can cause eye infection if used repeatedly without proper cleaning. Such infection can cause permanent damage to our eyes surface and even lead to blindness.
It is equally important to know that staying at home does not mean that your eyes are totally protected from ultraviolet rays. Direct sunlight can increase our risk for cataract and macular degeneration. Thus, remember to put on your sunglasses when you are chilling on your couch under direct sunlight. Choose a pair that blocks up to 99-100% of both UV-A and UV-B rays.
5. Limit Screen Time
Looking at the computer, phone and television screens for too long can cause eyestrain. Our vision becomes blurry due to stressed and tired eye muscles. This is especially true when we are trying to strain them further by looking at distant objects. In addition, our eyes tend to dry up and become more susceptible to irritants and infection.
Hence, for healthy eyes, rest your eyes every 20 minutes by taking a far gaze for about 20 seconds. Also, make sure you drink enough water and blink your eyes more when they are dry. You may use artificial tears too. Lastly, use an antiglare screen or position your screen to avoid glare from sunlight.
Photo by Compton Eye from Flickr
Conclusion
Eyes are the windows to a person’s soul. Sight is also the greatest and most precious of our 5 senses. Maintaining healthy eyes is of vital importance, starting right from the home.
References:
1. Seltman W. How to keep your eyes healthy [Internet]. WebMD LLC. 2020. (Available from: https://www.webmd.com/eye-health/good-eyesight#2; last updated on 2020 May 29; last accessed on 2020 Oct 1)
2. Marianne F, Christopher H. Coronavirus (COVID-19) and obesity [Internet]. University of Rochester Medical Center. 2020. (Available from: https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?contenttypeid=1&contentid=1874; last accessed on 2020 Oct 1)
Find a Ophthalmologist, Optician, and Optometrist in Malaysia, on GetDoc
Find a Ophthalmologist, Optician, and Optometrist in Singapore, on GetDoc
by Chang Xian
View all articles by Chang Xian.
