Now is a great time to remind you about the importance of protecting and preserving one of your most important senses: your sight.
Ways you can help protect your vision:
- Get yearly comprehensive dilated eye exams.
- Know your family's eye health history. It’s important to know if anyone has been diagnosed with an eye disease or condition, since many are hereditary.
- Eat right to protect your sight—in particular, eat plenty of dark leafy greens such as spinach, kale, or collard greens, and fish that is high in omega-3 fatty acids such as salmon, albacore tuna, trout, and halibut.
- Maintain a healthy weight.
- Wear protective eyewear when playing sports or doing activities around the home, such as painting, yard work, and home repairs.
- Quit smoking or never start.
- Wear sunglasses that block 99 percent-100 percent of ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation.
- Clean your hands prior to taking out your contacts and be sure to cleanse your contact lenses properly to avoid infection.
- Practice workplace eye safety.
A number of common eye diseases can affect millions of Americans, including glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). There are new discoveries that can help treat diseases, but early diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up care is always the best option. Physicians state that there are normally no symptoms of eye diseases, so yearly comprehensive dilated exams are utilized so that doctors can closely examine the back of the eye for any signs of an eye disease.
In addition to your yearly comprehensive dilated eye exams, visit an eye care professional if you have decreased vision; eye pain; drainage or redness of the eye; double vision; or diabetes; or if you see flashes of light, floaters (tiny specks that appear to float before your eyes), or circles (halos) around light sources.
