You are no doubt aware of the steps you need to take to ensure a healthy mouth or heart, but what about looking after your eye health? You use your eyes every minute of every day, and it is easy to take them for granted; however, they can be subjected to strain and infections, which can easily snowball into something much worse if not looked after properly. Here are four tips to ensure optimum eye health.
- Eat for eye health
As with the top maintenance of the rest of your bodily functions, eating a healthy, balanced diet is key to eye health. Certain nutrients, including beta carotene, zinc, and vitamin C, can reduce the risk of macular degeneration, so ensure that your diet contains many nutrient-dense foods. For instance, citrus fruits and leafy green vegetables, like oranges, broccoli, and spinach, contain vitamin C. These can be paired with oily fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids, like mackerel or salmon, for a tasty meal that optimizes eye health.
- Practice good hygiene when wearing contact lenses
You might prefer to wear contact lenses rather than glasses if you have myopia. Whilst contact lenses give you a sleek no-glasses look; they do require a certain level of hygiene to prevent painful eye infections. Always wash your hands before putting in lenses – you do not want to transfer bacteria on your hands to your eyes. Disposable One day contact lenses reduce the risk of infections spreading through dirty lenses. Monthly contact lenses should be thoroughly cleaned before and after each wear using a specialist cleaning solution and stored in sterile solution when not in use.
- Wear sunglasses
Your eyes are just as susceptible to the harmful UV rays from sunlight as your skin, and excessive sun exposure can increase the risk of conditions like cataracts. It is essential that you protect your eyes in bright weather conditions by wearing sunglasses. These are available in many different styles to suit any taste, from classic aviators to bang-on-trend 90s styles, at a variety of different price points for any budget. Choose sunglasses with lenses that block 99% to 100% of harmful UVA and UVB rays; this information should be included on the label.
- Take regular screen breaks
From working on laptops to scrolling through Twitter on smartphones to watching Netflix on iPads, you might surprise yourself to find that a vast majority of your time is spent looking at a screen. This can result in uncomfortable eye strain, with symptoms including blurred vision, eye dryness, and migraines. Try to reduce the amount of time you spend looking at a screen each day; instead of checking Twitter on your phone when you have a spare five minutes, for instance, look out of the window. Follow the rule of 20: for every 20 minutes spent looking at a screen, look away for 20 seconds at something 20 feet away.
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