If you are like many people, you have probably not given a great deal of thought to your eyesight. However, if you do not learn about eye care, your vision could suffer. In order to keep your eyes safe, read this article. It has great tips to help you out.
Keep your eyes protected from the sun. You should wear quality sunglasses to protect them from UV rays. If your eyes are frequently exposed to UVB rays, your risks for macular degeneration and cataracts increase. Try picking a pair of sunglasses that block between 99 and 100 percent of UVB and UVA rays.
Keep your eyes protected when dealing with hazardous situations. In certain types of unclean or hazardous environments, you should keep your eyes protected by wearing safety goggles. These also include certain sports. Activities like lacrosse, ice hockey, or racquetball can cause eye injuries, which is why you should wear helmets that have built-in face masks or sports goggles.
Drink plenty of water to keep your eyes hydrated. Your eyes are made mostly of water, and they need to stay moist at all times to remain healthy. Dry eyes are more prone to eye problems and diseases. Keeping your body fully hydrated will ensure that your eyes stay moisturized.
Eat foods that are known to promote good eye health. This includes a variety of leafy green vegetables, such as collards, kale and spinach. Citrus fruits provide vitamin C, which can help to maintain your eyesight. In addition, protein sources such as beans, eggs, and lentils can prove beneficial to your eyes.
Sunglasses are not all equal in quality, and many don’t even offer eye protection. Make sure that the ones you choose have the ability to block UVB and UVA rays. Even if sunglasses are just a fashion item for you, know that some low-quality sunglasses can actually hurt your vision.
You should be aware of any family history of eye problems. Many eye conditions are genetic. Speak with elders in the family so you can have an idea of your family history.
If you regularly wear contacts, keep a pair of backup prescription eye glasses. When experiencing irritation in the eye, you should remove the contact and wear a pair of prescription eye glasses. Keeping a contact lens in your eye while the eye is irritated can turn this seemingly small problem into something much larger, such as corneal ulcer.
Help your eyes out by wearing a pair of good sunglasses. They can help you avoid harmful UV rays, for example. You have to choose the right sunglasses that will provide you with both UVA and UVB protection. If you are a frequent driver, you should purchase polarized lenses. They also help you reduce glare. You may already have contact lenses with protection from UV rays, but be sure to wear sunglasses.
Use protective eyewear when working with strong chemicals or you are in an area where airborne particles may pose a danger to your eyes. Many people have sustained eye injuries while doing woodworking projects or being outdoors during very windy weather. You should also wear goggles when swimming in chlorinated water.
Keep in mind that having eye issues may be inevitable for some. Many eye conditions are hereditary. You can take great care of your eyes and still have major issues. If you have family member with eye problems, you may want to talk to them about which issues run in the family. You can bring up these conditions to your optometrist so that they can watch for the early signs.
Do you wear contacts? If so, make sure you have a pair of glasses that you can wear if your eyes get irritated. You do not want to make the situation worse by forcing yourself to wear the contacts because serious problems can result. Also, make sure you keep the contacts very clean.
To soothe puffy eyes, place a slice of a cold cucumber on top of each eyelid. The coolness from the cucumber slices will calm the puffiness and give your eyes relief. Leave the slices on your eyes for about ten minutes before you sleep at night to reduce minor inflammation.
Eat plenty of greens. When it comes to eye health, carrots are often touted as the vegetable of choice. While it is true that carrots are high in Vitamin A, they are not the only vegetable that can help with vision. Studies show that lutein and zeaxanthin, found in dark leafy greens such as spinach can help improve vision even more.
If you want to maintain your eyes healthy and you are a smoker, quit smoking. Smokers are more prone to getting optic nerve damage, macular degeneration and cataracts. If you have attempted to quit smoking before and have failed, keep trying. If you need extra motivation, think about the damage smoking can do to your eyes.
Be careful with computer use. If you use a computer a lot, you could be damaging your eyes. Make sure that you take a break from looking at the screen every half-hour. You can also be sure to position yourself so that you are looking down to see the monitor. These simple steps will help preserve your eyes.
Don’t rub your eyes. This can be a hard habit to break, particularly if you’ve been doing it since childhood. However, your hands are really dirty, and by rubbing your eyes, you are passing those germs on to your face. If you must touch your eyes, make sure you wash your hands thoroughly first.
In order to keep your eyes healthy, make sure your diet is rich in omega-3 fats. The omega-3 fats protect the little blood vessels in your eyes. They can also protect your eyes from dry eye syndrome and macular degeneration. Try to incorporate into your diet some foods high in omega-3 fats like sardines and wild salmon.
Though vision is generally ignored until something goes wrong, this is a poor strategy. The suggestions in this article were designed to help educate you about eye care. Remember all of the tips contained within the article. Doing so will provide long term benefits to your overall eye health and vision.