Healthy Eyes

Healthy eyes are vital for maintaining good eyesight. And, good eyesight is vital for maintaining your quality of life. But, your ability to see clearly can be impacted by many things. From aging and lifestyle choices to protecting your eyes from blue light and sunlight, what you do now to protect your vision will have an impact on how well you can see in the future. Although eyesight is the most important of our five senses, many people still take it for granted. In fact, one in six adults over the age of 45 and older have some type of eye problem that threatens their vision.

That’s because many common eye diseases such as glaucoma, diabetic eye disease, and macular degeneration often have no warning signs. For this reason, getting an annual eye exam is the best thing you can do to protect your eyesight. An eye exam is the only way to detect eye diseases in their early stages when they are the most treatable. With this in mind, we offer some insight on maintaining healthy eyes.

Maintaining Healthy Eyes

Maintaining healthy eyes is an important part of your health. And, the healthier you are, the better chance you have of avoiding risks to your eyes. Having a comprehensive dilated eye exam is one of the best things you can do to maintain good vision and keep your eyes healthy. That’s because, changes to the health of your eyes can happen gradually and you may not have any obvious signs of eye disease. For this reason, it is important to have your eyes checked every year by an optometrist. During the exam, each eye is closely inspected for signs of common vision problems and eye diseases, many of which have no early warning signs.

Common Vision Problems

The most common vision problems are refractive errors, commonly known as nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hyperopia), astigmatism, and presbyopia. These refractive errors occur when the shape of the eye prevents light from focusing directly on the retina. Because light rays do not bend and land where they should in the eye, vision blurs. Although blurred vision is the most common symptom of a vision problem, other symptoms can include:

• Double vision
• Haziness
• Glare or halos around bright lights
• Squinting
• Headaches
• Eye strain

Common Eye Diseases

The most common eye diseases include, macular degeneration, cataracts, diabetic eye disease, glaucoma, and dry eyes. Because your risk of developing age-related eye diseases increase as you age, getting an annual eye exam is more important than ever. That’s because, many eye diseases have no early warning signs or symptoms. But, a dilated exam can detect eye diseases in their early stages before vision loss occurs.

How to Maintain Healthy Eyes

It’s easy to take your eyesight for granted until something threatens it. If you are like most, seeing an eye doctor does not become important until you need your first pair of glasses. But, the problem with reactive eye care is that things can get worse the longer you wait. For this reason, your first step in maintainin­g health eyes is by getting an annual eye exam.

While you may think your vision is fine or that your eyes are healthy, getting an eye exam is the only way to be sure. With this in mind, here are some more tips on how to maintain healthy eyes throughout your lifetime:

• Don’t Smoke: quitting can reduce your risk of developing common eye diseases
• Eat Healthy Foods: eat fresh healthy whole foods
• Stay Active: to keep your blood vessels, eyes, and body in good shape
• Get an Eye Exam: EVERY YEAR
• Control Blood Pressure: to keep your eyes and the rest of your body healthy
• Protect Your Eyes from the Sun: with UV protected sunglasses
• Reduce Eye Strain: take regular breaks when working in front of the computer
• Wear Eye Protection: when playing sports

Proactive Approach to Eye Health

While you may think your eyes are healthy, getting a comprehensive dilated eye exam is the only way to be sure. During a dilated eye exam, drops are placed in your eyes allowing your eyes to widen. Once dilated, each eye is examined using a special magnifying lens that provides a clear view of important tissues at the back of the eye. Take a proactive approach to eye health by booking your annual dilated comprehensive eye exam. If you need more information about our eye exams or need help booking an appointment, call us at (805) 522-7007.