We all know the five senses bestowed to us that help us interact with the environment – touch, taste, smell, hearing, and vision. But for all their importance, people often neglect caring for their sense organs. Luckily, constant campaigns and drives have helped people be aware of several health systems and points they must take care of, including eye health. Read below as we discuss some essential optics and vision care tips.

Tip 1 – Visit your eye specialists for routine checks
Partnering with your ophthalmologist or optometrist is one of the most crucial steps toward optics and vision care. Depending on the conditions or your current eye health, your eye specialists can help you determine how frequently you must visit their vision care centers for checks and possible actions to guard your eyes against further damage. Consider getting vision insurance to save on the expense.

Tip 2 – Eat well
Caring for your eyes starts with the food on your plate. Vital nutrients, such as omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E, zinc, lutein, and vitamin C, can help keep age-related vision issues like cataracts and macular degeneration away. For this, you must add the following items to your plate:

Oranges and other citrus juices or fruits
Nuts, beans, and other protein sources
Green leafy vegetables like collards, kale, and spinach

A balanced meal plan reduces the chances of developing multiple diseases that often lead to blindness in adults.

Tip 3 – Avoid prolonged exposure to the computer screens
Beyond causing shoulder, back, and neck aches, staring at your phone or computer screen for too long can severely deteriorate your eye health. It is a must to get vision insurance if your job demands long hours of computer work because it might lead to multiple eye problems (such as long-distance focus issues, blurry vision, dry eyes, and eyestrain) from excessive exposure to the phone or computer screens. A few protective measures you can take are:

Buy opticals online or offline with a prescription for screen exposure.
Visit vision care centers in case of prolonged eyestrain and seek dedicated glasses for computer use.
Pick a comfortable chair and position it to have your feet lie flat on the floor.
When your eyes feel dry, blink more.
After every 2 hours, take a 15-minute break, probably get off your chair and move around a little.
Follow the 20-20-20 rule, meaning you rest your eyes every 20 minutes by looking 20 feet away for 20 seconds.

Tip 4 – Wear protective eyewear
While playing sports or doing activities around the home, use vision care products like protective eyewear. These include safety shields, goggles, eye guards, and safety glasses, exquisitely designed to offer the ideal protection for the activity in which you are engaged. Typically, the protective lenses have polycarbonate. It is about ten times stronger than other plastics. You can find these vision care products at most eye care providers. You can also look for them in reliable stores where you buy opticals online. At times, some sporting goods stores also have these products available.

Tip 5 – Be vigilant about eye problems and look for signs
Periodically visiting eye specialists is an excellent routine to follow. However, do not rely just on that because your eye health is at stake. Thus, you must be cautious about your eyesight and keep a check on the changes in your vision. Some red flags you must look for are:

Frequent light flashes
Floaters
Constant eye swelling and pain
Problem seeing in low light conditions
Double vision
Hazy vision
Red eyes for an extended duration

When these signs prevail for longer than they should, you should instantly consult your trusted eye specialist for a detailed investigation into the issue.

Tip 6 – Do not rub your eyes
Several people are in the habit of rubbing their eyes every other minute. For most of them, this eye rubbing soon becomes an irritating habit that may damage their eye health. You must realize that most of the time, your hands are full of germs that make you susceptible to several infections and diseases. Thus, it is vital to get rid of this unhealthy habit. If you find it challenging to overcome, keep your hands as clean as possible. Use sanitizers or soaps regularly to keep them clean if you cannot stop rubbing your eyes.

Tip 7 – Be aware of your family history
Some eye conditions are inherited. So, if a close family member has these conditions, you have a higher probability of developing them. Two of these conditions are macular degeneration and glaucoma. Studies suggest that you are up to nine times more likely to develop glaucoma if your family member has it. So, please speak to your family members about their eye conditions. It can help you and your eye doctor to keep a check on the symptoms and proactively prepare for them before they appear. Early diagnosis is pivotal to avoiding vision loss.