Good eyesight is hard to maintain in an era of fast technological advancement. If you’re not checking your smartphone then chances are you’ve got your nose stuck in your laptop or tablet.
All this screen-time effects even those with perfect vision. Thus, knowing when to take breaks is super important for preserving your eyesight, especially if you’re already wearing glasses or have other preexisting eye conditions.
Lifestyle coaches, guides, and eyesight professionals recommend seeing your eye doctor for regular checkups. Maintaining a healthy work-life balance, eating the right foods, and proper rest are also beneficial for healthy eyes.
This article provides 5 tips on keeping your eyes healthy for as long as possible.
Tips on Taking Care of Your Eyesight
1. Get regular eye tests
This tip might sound obvious, but many people fail to program regular visits with their optometrists. If you don’t already have issues with your eyes, the regular recommendation is that you book an eye test every 2 years.
If you are already wearing glasses or have other issues with your vision you might need to have a check-up once a year or more often. The same goes for contact lens wearers.
Your eye doctor will be able to instruct as to how often you’ll need to get your eyes tested. In any case, if you notice any changes to your eyesight, like black/white dots or blurriness, it’s best to go in for a checkup as soon as possible.
2. Quit smoking
It’s a known fact that smoking affects eyesight directly. Age-related macular degeneration is an eye condition that affects a big percentage of people that smoke. This can lead to cataracts and even complete loss of eyesight.
Cutting down on smoking or, better yet, quitting completely can save you time and money on doctor’s appointments as well as prevent you from losing your eyesight.
3. Protect your eyes
The best ways of directly protecting your eyesight are:
- Getting prescription glasses– Many people delay seeing their eye doctor after their eyes start showing signs of fatigue, blurriness, or distorted vision. Contact your eyesight professional right away and make sure to get the right prescription for your specific eye correction needs.
- Wearing sunglasses- protecting your eyes from the harmful effect of sunlight should be a priority, particularly in summertime. Ensure your sunglasses are polarized and cover 100% UVA/UVB filtering to minimize damage done to your eyes by ultraviolet rays.
4. Take regular breaks from your screen
As mentioned, the more advanced the technology the more likely we are to get stuck watching a screen all day long. If your work involves a computer or handheld device, eyesight specialists recommend taking a break and looking into the distance every 20 minutes.
5. Maintain a balanced diet and exercise regime
More than anything, it is important to have a balanced diet and eat hearty, healthy, and whole foods on a daily basis. The best way of preventing eye issues is by eating well, getting proper sleep, doing moderate exercise, and having an overall healthy lifestyle.
Health, fitness, and nutrition experts recommend exercising at least 3 times per week for at least 30 minutes at a time. Running, yoga, jogging, cycling, swimming, and rock climbing are all great activities you can enjoy while reaping the benefits for your overall health.
Conclusion
In today’s fast paced environment, it’s easy to get distracted from the things that are really important in our lives. Having healthy eyes and good eyesight is highly important, especially since most of us are working in front of a screen for over 8 hours every day.
To avoid developing problems with your eyesight make sure you visit your eye doctor regularly. If you wear glasses or contact lenses, it’s best to see your doctor more often, like once a year or so. You need to also eat healthy foods, do 30 minutes of exercise every other day, take plenty of beaks, and sleep well every night.