How to Protect Eyesight

Unfortunately, whatever we do to protect our eyes, vision deteriorates with age. Vision deterioration cannot be stopped but there are some things patients can do to limit the effect of aging on eyesight:

 DO

• Have regular eye examinations by an optician or opthamologist. Eye tests check for signs of any retinal, pupil damage, identify problems such as long and short sightedness and can detect signs of cataracts early.
• Follow the advice of opthamologists – glasses may not suit your image but if you need glasses -wear them!
• Eat a diet rich in antioxidants – antioxidants found in fruit and vegetables have been proven to help prevent vision problems. The myth that eating carrots will help you see in the dark isn’t quite true but Vitamin A has been proven to help prevent cataracts
• Wear sunglasses – UV rays are harmful to your eyes. Sunglasses with correct UV filters protect your eyes form the damaging rays
• Keep diabetes under control – Diabetes is one of the leading causes of vision problems and a major factor in cataract development
• Increase the amount of Omega3 in your diet – the vitamin found in oily fish helps to prevent age related blindness

Don’t

• Smoke – One more reason to quit, smoking has been found to speed up the deterioration of eyesight
• Strain eyes by trying to read in dim light – Always make sure there is enough light to avoid squinting
• Sit too close to a screen – Sit back from computers and any other monitors to protect your eyes
• Use neon light – swap to natural lighting or light bulbs
• Spend a long time looking at a computer -After 20mins, look away from the screen, focus on an object in the distance for 20seconds and look back again.