Tips to Maintain and Improve Your Eyesight

Maintaining eyesight is very important, we use our eyes to stare at small types and images on computer screens, televisions, and cell phones more than ever before, which leads to eye fatigue and increased appearance of age-related eye issues and gradually weakens your vision, so having regular eye examinations is just one of the many ways you can improve your eyesight and prevent injuries or diseases that may damage your vision, and in this article, we will explain ways to keep your eyesight from weakening.

Maintain vision with routine eye exams:

Regular comprehensive eye exams are essential to protect your vision to check for typical vision issues such as minor refractive issues such as myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), astigmatism (irregular shape of the cornea), and presbyopia (inability to see at close distances).

A routine visit includes a thorough eye examination, by placing dilation drops in both eyes so that the doctor can look behind them and look for damage to your eyes. Common eye diseases that develop particularly as we age include cataracts (cloudy lenses), glaucoma (damage to the optic nerve caused by too much pressure in the eye), age-related macular degeneration (deterioration of the area of the retina called the macula), and blindness over 65 years of age.

It is also recommended that you share your family’s eye health history with your doctor to determine if you are at higher risk for certain diseases, and if you wear glasses, see your doctor on an annual basis to maintain the fit of your glasses.

After age 40, see your eye doctor every two years. In addition to screening for asymptomatic issues such as glaucoma, eye doctors are often the first to detect conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure, and if you experience vision changes at any time such as blurriness, make an appointment to see your eye doctor immediately.

Practicing some exercises for your eyes is important to preserve your vision:

These simple exercises will help you maintain optimal vision, you can practice these exercises first thing in the morning, before bedtime, or anytime your eyes feel tired, but make sure your hands are clean and your mood is comfortable, stick to the daily practice of these exercises and you may see better results within one month.

• Warm your eyes Rub your palms together to generate heat, then place them on your eyes for five seconds, repeat this three times.
• Roll your eyes: Start by looking up and then slowly make circular motions clockwise 10 times and counterclockwise 10 times.
• Concentration: Hold a pen at arm’s length, focus your eyes on it, slowly bring the pen close until it is about 6 inches away from your nose, and then slowly move it again, focusing on your eyes. Repeat this 10 times.
• Massage your temples: Using your thumb knuckles, massage your temples in small circles, 20 times in one direction and 20 times in the other direction, repeat the same actions above the point of the eyebrows at the forehead, then under the eyes on either side of the bridge of the nose.
• Take a small nap: Put your head back, close your eyes, and relax for 3 minutes.

Get vitamins and minerals that help strengthen eyesight:

Vitamins A, C and E and minerals such as copper and zinc are essential for eyesight, and antioxidants, including beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin, protect the macula from sun damage, and you can get these antioxidants from dark leafy vegetables, egg yolks, yellow peppers, pumpkin, sweet potatoes and carrots, and research has shown that eating yellow and green vegetables can help prevent age-related macular degeneration, a major cause of blindness.

Foods rich in sulfur, cysteine, and lecithin help protect the lens of your eyes from cataract formation, and excellent choices for these foods include garlic, onions, and leeks.

While blueberries, grapes, and raspberries have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that can help improve your vision, DHA is a fatty acid found in cold-water fish such as wild salmon, sardines, mackerel, and cod that provides structural support for cell membranes to promote eye health.

Give your eyes a rest to maintain vision:

Getting enough sleep is essential for eye health, as sleep allows your eyes to rest, repair, and recover, and insufficient sleep may impair your vision, so it is recommended to get rest and sleep for 8 hours at night.

Give your eyes a break once an hour during your workday by resting your eyes for 10 minutes for every 50 minutes you spend reading or in front of a computer. If your eyes feel overly tired, lie down and place slices of cucumber on your eyelids.

Quit smoking:

You already know that smoking is dangerous to your heart and lung health, but did you know that it also increases the risk of macular degeneration, cataracts, and optic nerve damage, if you smoke, make a plan to quit today to keep your eyesight from weakening.

Wear sunglasses:

To protect your eyes from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays, choose sunglasses that block both UVA and UVB rays, and always make a habit of wearing safety glasses, goggles, or eye shields to protect against eye injuries that can occur during sports, some jobs or other activities.

Follow the correct way to use a computer:

Set your computer on a low table or use a laptop so you close your eyes when working. This keeps the eyelid opening smaller, reducing your chance of developing a dry eye condition, and changes your computer’s flash rate to 70 or higher to also help minimize discomfort, if you sit at a computer all day, take a 10-minute break every two hours

Get Omega-3s:

The health-packed fatty acids known as Omega-3s are not only good for the heart but also help protect vision, for women, the daily dose is 100 mg, and for men 600 mg.

Physical exercise is good for the eyes:

Since being overweight increases your chance of developing diabetic eye disease or glaucoma, doing thirty minutes of physical exercise not only benefits your heart and waist size but also can reduce eye pressure by 20%. Deep breathing also helps to reduce eye pressure by draining the lymphatic system.