As they say, the eyes are the windows to the soul. It’s important to keep your eyes healthy or be aware of your eye health. Even if you have perfect vision, it’s not 100% that your eyes might suffer from risk factors. This is why an eye exam is the best way to protect your eyes and eyesight. It’s the most simple and informative way to take precautions. 

Protecting your eyes and having good eye health improves the quality of your life. Not being able to see properly can lead to discomfort, affect productivity, and difficulties in your everyday life. Here are some tips for eye health and maintaining good eyesight.

Visit Your Eye Doctor Regularly

The most recommended tip in this article is to get a comprehensive eye exam. Everyone needs a regular eye exam. You can get more in-depth results on your current eye health, and professional advice on what you can do to improve it depending on those results. 

Eye exams can detect diseases like glaucoma, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cataracts, and more. With eye exams, you could have a chance to spot them early on before having the symptoms. 

You also might need glasses! If you already have difficulty with your eyesight, going for an eye exam will help you with an eye prescription for eyewear.

A comprehensive eye exam can include:

• Vision test to identify if you are nearsighted or farsighted and your overall assessment of your eyesight.
• Detailed eye examination before and after eye dilation.
• Tonometry test: measures the pressure of your eye to detect glaucoma.
• A retinoscopy test allows your optometrist to obtain an approximate prescription for eyeglasses.

Wear Protective Eyewear

Whether you are playing basketball, working, or even doing a school science project wearing the right eyewear can and will protect your eyes. 

Having protective eyewear can protect your eyes from materials or anything that can come into contact with your eyes. These can lead to an eye injury if your eyes aren’t well protected and thus affect your eyesight.

Wearing sunglasses can also protect your eyes. They are not only to show off your style! Another concern that can harm your eyes is UV Rays. UV light affects all structures of the eye. It promotes the chance of having cataracts, corneal damage, and more. This can ultimately lead to a decrease in your vision.

Blue light filtering glasses are known to keep your eyes protected from blue light. Blue light is emitted from electronic devices like tablets, phones, TVs, computer monitors, etc. It’s part of the color spectrum that has a short, high-energy wave. Your eyes become strained from being exposed to blue light and you might notice:

• Headaches
• Sore/Tired eyes
• Trouble sleeping
• Vision loss

Quit Smoking

Smoking is a risk factor for not only your eyes and eyesight but for your overall health. It drastically increases the chances of getting cataracts and eye diseases. The longer you avoid smoking, the more inflammation will ease off. 

Staying Hydrated

Your body is made of up to 60% of water, so it’s important to stay hydrated. When you are dehydrated, your eyes tend to get dry which leads to uncomfort.  When they get dry they don’t have enough hydration to produce lubrication from natural tears. The recommended amount of water you should drink is 2.7 liters for women and 3.7 liters for men a day. 

Exercising 

Exercising can not only help lose weight but it can help your eyes as well. Being in shape can reduce the chance of getting diabetes which can cause damage to tiny blood vessels within the eyes. This can lead to diabetic retinopathy which causes the small arteries in your retina to leak blood and fluid in your eyes. This results in harming your eyesight.