Keep your eyes in good shape for years to come. Here’s what you need to know about keeping your eyes healthy without surgery.
If you’ve been blessed with good eye sight, it’s easy to take your eyes for granted. However, vision problems can seriously affect your life over time. In fact, vision loss can lower your quality of life and raise your risk of depression, diabetes and other health issues, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Practicing simple, daily habits can help you improve your eye health and reduce your risk of problems in the future.
Want more health tips? Check out why omega-3 rich foods offer benefits for your health, why your glasses get foggy and how to stop it and the right color of sunglasses for eye health. Wear sunglasses
Exposing your eyes to ultraviolet rays may cause damage over time. Wearing sunglasses can block harmful UV light, lowering your risk of eye diseases like cataracts, sunburn, eye cancer and growths around the eye, per the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Polarized glasses with smoke or gray lenses may offer the best protection against the sun’s rays and reduce glare.Take screen breaks
Prolonged screen time can cause dry eyes, pain in the neck and shoulders, blurred vision, headaches and digital eye strain, or computer vision syndrome. The American Optometric Association recommends using the 20-20-20 rule to prevent computer vision syndrome. Every 20 minutes, look at something at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds.Take book breaks, too
Screen time isn’t the only way to strain your eyes. When you read a book, you probably hold it up close for long periods, too. Both activities can lead to nearsightedness, or myopia, which means far-away objects are blurry while up-close things are clear. Just like you should use the 20-20-20 rule to take screen breaks, you should also use this rule for book breaks.
