10 Steps to General Eye Health
Our consultant optician Joy Myint BSc (Hons) MCOptom. gave us her view on looking after your precious eyes.
1. Regular eye examinations An eye examination does not just see whether you need spectacles it is also an eye health check. Unfortunately many eye conditions do not have any symptoms e.g. primary open- angle glaucoma
2. Eat healthily This is really looking after your whole body and your eyes will be looked after too. Avoid yo-yo dieting and eating a low (saturated) fat diet with plenty of vegetables (especially leafy green ones) is good for the eyes. Read our take on foods that feed the eyes and see our
food pyramid for healthy balanced advice.
At beflattered.com we think boosting your diet with supplements specifically formulated for eye health is good insurance.
3. Stop smoking There is a strong link between smoking and age-related macular degeneration.
4. Take regular breaks from the screen If you use a computer all day at work, take regular breaks from the screen. Every 15 minutes look at something far away for 10 seconds and take a full five minute break every hour. This will help with avoiding eyestrain.
5. Wear proper sunglasses Prolonged exposure to sunlight can affect the eyes permanently. Wear sunglasses with proper UV (ultraviolet) protection. Ask your optician for advice or look for the CE mark on the sunglasses. Cheap sunglasses that are not CE marked could cause more damage so be careful!
6. Wear safety spectacles If you do a lot of DIY or play sports such as squash or badminton then you should really wear safety spectacles to prevent your eyes being injured.
7. Always remove your eye make-up before bedtime
It's really easy to slip into bed when tired leaving the remnants of the days mascara and eye-make. This is not only bad for your skin but your eyes too and can result in rubbing and sensitising the eye area
8. Contact lenses Always have regular contact lens check ups, don’t overwear your lenses and keep them clean.
9. Lighting Though reading without adequate light won’t damage your eyes it may stop you from getting eye strain!
10. Self Check Do look at your self in the mirror and occasionally cover each eye in turn to make sure you can still see as well as you normally do.