Practiced eye care is the best thing you can do to preserve your vision for a long time. As your eyes do a lot of work every day, they should be treated with the same respect and consideration.
These are not the perfect times we’re living in. With the constant stress we all go through every day, self-care has become an even more important part of our lives. But even in self-care, eye care is a less talked-about topic that not many people pay attention to.
If you are not careful or don’t take care of your eyes, you may experience temporary vision changes or severe vision damage. You don’t have to do anything special to keep your eyes happy; a little goes a long way.
Here are 7 ways to take better care of your peepers.
Screen time breaks eye care
Your eyes are working every second that you’re awake. It goes without saying that they need frequent breaks so they don’t feel tired.
No matter if you’ve been reading a book for hours or you’re just working on your laptop non-stop, you are putting your eyes through a lot. Focusing on near objects for long hours without taking any breaks in between may lead to myopia or nearsightedness over time.
If you’ve started to feel eye strain from your screen time habits, consult an eye doctor and start wearing blue light glasses. They’ll bring relief to your eyes and reduce the chances of myopia. Get blue-light lenses fit in designer glasses frames to wear as an accessory.
Routine eye exams
You can’t tell whether your vision has gotten worse. The small changes in your eyesight are so minor that they don’t catch your attention.
Visiting an eye doctor every year for a thorough ocular examination will help you detect potential issues in your vision while you can still treat them. And the best part is that you don’t even have to pay for these tests, as they are offered for free by the NHS in the UK.
And if you can’t get it from the NHS, you will find a local optician in your area who performs these tests for free.
Be extra mindful when wearing contacts.
Avid contact lens wearers should be extra careful when using contact lenses. Don’t wear your contacts to bed or take a swim in them, as the chlorine water can cause irritation or inflammation of the cornea.
Even when it’s allergy season with seeds and pollen at their peak, your contact lenses can make the problem even worse. If your eyes are dry or you’re pregnant, using contacts could lead to damage to your vision.
If you are not a good candidate for contact lenses, wear glasses. Contacts are not able to protect your eyes from UV light, but glasses are. And with glasses that have transition lenses, you can wear your glasses both inside and outside.
Use eye drops.
In this digital age, we all spend most of our time looking at those blue-light-filled screens on our smartphones, laptops, or tabs. If you think that blue light exposure only leads to eye strain, you probably don’t know that dry eyes are one of the most common problems resulting from screen time.
Whether your eyes are dry from screen time or spending too much time under the sun, use eye drops. It will keep your eyes lubricated and reduce the possibility of vision damage.
Wear sunglasses
You must not step out of your house without sunglasses, no matter whether it’s sunny or rainy outside. UV rays wreak havoc on your skin, but they aren’t good for your eyes as well. Extended UV exposure could burn your cornea, resulting in temporary visual symptoms such as watery eyes or blurry vision.
Either go for sunglasses or prescription glasses with photochromic lenses to protect your eyes. And buy them from a good retailer so you can get maximum protection against sun damage.
Don’t touch your eyes.
We all have this habit of touching or rubbing our eyes whenever they feel itchy. However, health experts recommend not touching your eyes or face if you want to avoid the transmission of the coronavirus.
If something gets in your eye and you need to touch it, make sure your hands are clean. Apart from rubbing, you can also wash your eyes to wash away any dirt or debris in them.
Exercise
There are some easy-to-do exercises that can improve your eye health. Practice focus-shifting exercises or eye yoga to keep your ocular muscles flexible and in good shape.
Especially if you spend long hours focusing at the same distance, you need to do these exercises to make sure the crystalline lens in your eye doesn’t become rigid.
I hope you now understand the value of your eyes and why they should be your first priority on your self-care list.
