Sight is perhaps our most important sense. Once our eyelids open in the morning, our vision guides us through the day. We use our eyes to read, navigate the world and see our loved ones’ smiling faces. So as we age, eye health is more important than ever.
However, eye health is often overlooked. Sure, you might make an annual trip to the eye doctor to update your prescription for glasses or contacts, but what are you doing to really keep your eyes healthy? With some extra preventative care, you can guard yourself against common eye ailments and diseases such as cataracts and glaucoma.
Here’s 5 great practices to help ensure healthy vision throughout your life:
1. Get Regular Eye Exams
Eye exams are currently the best form of prevention against glaucoma. With more than 10 types of glaucoma, there are many factors that lead to the development of the disease. Early detection of glaucoma or cataracts is your best defense. Regular eye exams give you a better chance against these complex diseases.
2. Use Eye Protection
Eye protection is an important part of vision health, which is often easy to forget. Whether you’re enjoying the great outdoors or just working around the house, you should be protecting your eyes from the sun. Exposure to the UV rays from sunlight can cause damage to your eyes.
These UV rays can lead to glaucoma and other degenerative eye diseases later in life. Even when it’s overcast, your eyes are still exposed to UV rays. To protect yourself, be sure to wear sunglasses or a brimmed hat when outside. Be diligent in protecting your vision. Here’s some great info on UV rays and how they affect your eyes.
Protecting your eyes from physical trauma is also important. Use protective eyewear whenever you participate in contact sports or use power tools. Aside from injury, eye trauma can lead to the development of certain types of glaucoma as you age.
3. Avoid Smoking
Smoking negatively impacts many aspects of our health, including eye health and vision. Research suggests that smokers are twice as likely to develop cataracts than non-smokers. If you’re a heavy smoker, the risk is tripled.
Doctors believe that smoking can alter your eye’s cells through oxidation, and it can also contribute to the buildup of heavy metals in your eye tissue. Damage done to your cells by smoking can also lead to glaucoma.
4. Eat Healthy
As with anything related to the body, diet plays an important role in eye health. Often, we pursue healthy eating habits to lose weight and get in better physical shape. But did you know that a healthy diet can actually help you see better?
The antioxidants and vitamins found in foods like berries, leafy greens and whole grains can help keep your eyes healthy and avoid cataracts. These healthy foods will also help you avoid diabetes, which increases your odds of developing both cataracts and glaucoma.
5. Manage other Ailments & Medications
Other health conditions, such as diabetes, have a correlation with cataracts. Diabetes can also lead to specific forms of glaucoma. If you have other medical conditions that you are treating with medication, ask your doctor about how your eye health may be affected. Long-term use of some medications, especially oral steroids, can also contribute to cataracts and need to be managed carefully.
Eye Health for Life
Our vision is important to our quality of life. Be sure you take the time to ensure your eyes are healthy. With proper care and regular checkups, you can avoid your risk of many eye diseases such as cataracts and glaucoma.
If poor eye health or deteriorating vision has you or loved one in need of assistance, contact us at Eldercare Services. Our caregivers can help you overcome your limitation and live a better life. You can contact us on the web here or call (866) 760-1808.