The best advice for eye care is to have regular checkups with your optometrist. However, in between visits there are several things you can do to protect your eyesight. Try these easy and natural ‘fixes’ to ensure you will be able to see clearly long into the future.
• Incorporate a variety of vegetables and fruits into your daily diet. Even multivitamins do not include all of the essential minerals and vitamins that are important to your eyesight. The more colorful and rough the fruit or vegetable – the better!
• Keep your eyes protected at all times. Make sure you have polarized lenses for highway driving and to prevent damage from the sun. If you are working with tools then always wear protective glasses. Keep several pairs of regular, protective and sunglasses handy in the places you spend the most time, so you don’t have to look for them.
• Know your family’s eye history. If attending to your family’s medical needs is your responsibility, keep a folder with information about each person’s eyecare, optometry visits, etc. where it is easily accessible. Update it after every optometry visit or incident involving vision.
• If your eyes are puffy or stinging, you can make a compress from a variety of homemade items. Sliced cucumbers, tea bags that have been steeped and cooled in the refrigerator and cooled cotton balls all help to soothe the eyes.
• Do not spend endless hours staring at screens including cell phones, computers, tablets and televisions. If working on a computer is part of your employment responsibilities, then take a 10-minute break every hour. Close your eyes to soothe them, put a cold compress on them, and keep your work station well lit. Also, don’t forget to blink. Too often, people who stare at screens do just that – they forget to open and close your eyes. This is the body’s natural way of refreshing your eyes!
• Keep your hands away from your eyes. Do not rub your eyes with your fingers or wipe away tears. Your hands are dirty most of the time, even when you have recently washed them. Instead use disinfected cloths or towelettes and pat around your eyes and/or on your eyelids.
Taking care of your vision is important! It is often the little things that will make a difference. Contact Island Eyecare to schedule an eye appointment.