Healthy eyes are something that most people take for granted. Waking up in the morning, blinking and beginning a brand new day is not something that every person gets to experience. Possibly, you don’t really start appreciating this until age starts to affect your vision and images that used to be sharp and crisp are now fuzzy.
It is no surprise that eyesight and eye health become affected with time and age, but luckily there are ways to prevent this from happening. A leading eye doctor Fort Myers believes that focusing on optic health is just as important as any other part of the body. According to this doctor, here’s what you can do to keep your eyes stronger than ever, even as you age.
Schedule a comprehensive dilated eye exam annually
Even if you consider your vision to be fine, you should still be seeing an eye doctor every year, or at least every other year. This is a common misconception, that those with perfect vision don’t need to see an optometrist or optician. But guess what, you can still have problems with your eyes even if your vision is 20/20.
For this reason, getting a comprehensive dilation exam each year is very important. When an eye doctor dilates a patient’s pupils, this allows him/her to take a good look at the inner workings of the eye. Dilation can detect early signs of glaucoma or macular degeneration, 2 common eye diseases that have no warning signs.
Have a full understanding of your family’s eye health history
Just like any aspect of your health, you need to have a good knowledge of any eye-related diseases or issues within your family’s past. If your grandfather had glaucoma, you should be aware of this. Even having a general idea of your family members’ eyesight range can be helpful for any trip to the eye doctor.
Try to maintain a healthy weight
Who knew that maintaining a healthy weight can affect the health of your eyes? Of course, healthy weight is something that you should be focusing on anyways, but you probably didn’t think about the relationship this has to your vision. A government source says that “being overweight or obese increases your risk of developing diabetes and other systemic conditions, which can lead to vision loss, such as diabetic eye disease or glaucoma.”
If you smoke, stop now
And if you don’t smoke, never start. Smoking cigarettes is terrible for all aspects of health, even eye health. It turns out smoking cigarettes is as bad for your eyes as it is for your lungs. It has been proven that smoking can lead to macular degeneration and even damage the optic nerve permanently.
Wear sunglasses as much as possible
Wearing sunglasses is the best thing you can do to protect your eyes from the sun’s harmful rays. Try not to leave your shades at home, especially on sunny days. It’s a good idea to keep an extra pair in your car or purse.