Tips on maintaining healthy vision

Up to half of sight loss cases are avoidable, just by looking after your eyes properly.  Your lifestyle plays a big part of this, so if you’re looking for the best way to maintain healthy vision, you might want to consider your everyday choices.

Maintaining healthy diet and weight

Following a healthy diet will help your overall health, as well as your vision. A balanced diet can ensure that your body is getting the nutrients, minerals and vitamins it needs to function optimally.

For eye health specifically, it is recommended that you include plenty of omega-3 fats and lutein. Omega-3 can be found in fish such as salmon and tuna, while lutein is found in dark, leafy greens such as spinach and kale.

Vitamins A, C and E can also help to maintain healthy eyes and vision.

Knowing your family’s health history

It’s helpful to be aware of your family’s health history, as many eye conditions can be hereditary. Refractive errors such as long and short sightedness can run in the family, as can conditions like glaucoma.

If an eye disease runs in your family, you may need to attend eye examinations more frequently. Knowing about a problem early on can help your optometrist detect conditions before they become serious. Just let your optician know about health conditions within your family so that they can take the necessary steps.

Recognising changes in your vision

It helps to understand the different eye conditions and their symptoms, as it means you are better equipped to recognise any changes in your vision. This can help you to catch a problem early, especially if you see your local optician straight away.

Many eye conditions don’t have obvious symptoms, which can make it very difficult to detect. If you start to suffer from unusual signs like excessive pain, headaches, redness or blurry vision, you should see your optician.

Most problems will be picked up at your routine eye examination, so it’s important to keep going to your optician for an eye test every 2 years, or sooner if necessary.

Avoiding smoking or excessive alcohol use

Smoking can be detrimental to your vision; it has been linked to an increased risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cataracts. Smoking can also increase the risk of damage to your optic nerve. By quitting smoking, you can reduce your risk of this.

Excessive alcohol can also increase your risk of developing AMD. In extreme cases, long term effects of excessive alcohol can result in toxic amblyopia, which can cause permanent vision loss.

Extreme alcohol consumption may eventually affect your vision through vitamin deficiency. This is because heavy drinking can affect how well your liver is able to absorb vitamins.

Wearing protective eyewear

Overexposure to UV light can have a negative impact on your vision, so it’s important to protect your eyes from the sun. UVA rays can pass through the cornea of your eye and onto the retina, this can lead to a number of health conditions.

When buying sunglasses, it’s important to check that they block 100% of UVA and UVB light. Our range of polarised lenses offer the highest level of UV protection within our lens collection. 

Your sunglasses should always carry the CE or British Standard marks.

Rest

Your eye muscles are active throughout the day, particularly if you work with computer screens. This can eventually lead to headaches and eye strain, so it’s important to give your eyes regular breaks from focusing on something.

The popular 20-20-20 rule can help to reduce eye strain, but wearing the correct lenses can also provide a solution. Eyezen lenses can help to prevent and reduce eye strain when working on digital devices; you can wear them even if you don’t have a prescription.