Fall is upon us, which mean leaves will be falling and our environment will be transforming. Allergies will be blooming and the temperatures will be dropping. It is important to follow these next four steps to prevent eye irritation in the near future.
Step 1: Maintain a Consistent Healthy Diet
If you begin to include nutrients in your daily diet such as omega-3, lutein, zinc, and vitamins C and E, this can slow down developing aging vision issues. If you avoid these nutrients, you could slowly develop long-term vision problems, like macular degeneration. By applying a healthier lifestyle to your eating habits, you are also less likely to develop diabetes. Diabetes is a leading cause of later blindness in adults. Smoking can also make you susceptible to getting the previous diseases and you are more likely to develop nerve damage as well.
Step 2: Have Great Hygiene
We all know that as the seasons progress and our allergies flare-up it can have major effects on our eyes. For this reason, it is important to wash your hands throughout the day. Our eyes not only get irritated from airborne irritants like pollen, mold, dust, and pet dander, but our hands and clothing come in contact with even more dangers. If you rub your hands on your clothes, sneeze, and then rub your eyes, that allows more bacteria and germs to enter your body at a faster rate. Make sure you are keeping your environment as clean as you can and washing your hands thoroughly throughout the day.
Step 3: Protect Your Eyes
Wearing sunglasses, even when it is cloudy, will be a primary eye saver. UV Rays can penetrate through cloudy skies and can be as much exposure as on a bright day. Wearing your sunglasses will also prevent you from coming in contact with any unwanted airborne particles that are all around our environment. You can look stylish and feel good, too! Another way to keep your eyes hydrated during the fall and winter months is to use eye drops frequently. They will help keep your eyes feeling clean and lubricated. However, not all eye drops are created equal. If you wear contacts, it’s important to know which ones are safe for your lenses. Most over-the-counter eye drops are divided into three categories: drops for dry eyes, drops for eye redness, and drops for contact lens re-wetting. Doctors recommend Blink Tears lubricating eye drops if you don’t wear contacts and Blink Contacts for our contact lens patients.
Step 4: Don’t Look at a Screen for too Long
If you tend to work long hours or binge watch Netflix, make sure you are not staring directly at the screen for too long. You are more susceptible to strain your eyes, develop blurry vision, and it is a leading cause of headaches. If you position your computer so that your eyes are level with the top of the monitor, you can then look down to avoid most of the glare for too long. Make sure to give your eyes rest and look away from the screen for 30 seconds every 20 minutes.
Our Therapeutic Optometrists will provide you with the best eye care services in West Texas. Drs. Gibson, Gibson, and Moore will perform a series of vision tests and evaluate your eye health for any circumstances that come up during the unpredictable seasons of West Texas. You deserve to feel comfortable in your eyes and should consider all of these steps to protect them!
