You need to protect your eyesight, because no one else will protect it for you. Many forms of vision loss are entirely preventable, and much of the time, it’s easy to do so. Take care in protecting your eyes, and you could be rewarded with a lifetime of better vision!

Five Easy Ways To Prevent Vision Loss

1 – Wear sunglasses on bright days

The ultraviolet light from the sun is actually harmful to our eyes, doing very slow damage whenever we’re outside without protection. Over the decades, this will cause your eyes to degrade. Also, UV exposure can potentially accelerate the development of harmful eye conditions like cataracts.

If you wear sunglasses regularly, you’re already doing a lot to protect your vision.

2 – Use protective eyewear when needed

If you’re ever doing something that could potentially damage your eyes, play it safe and wear protective goggles or other shields.

In particular:

• Playing sports. It’s extremely easy for flying balls – or flying elbows – to hit people in the eye, potentially doing major damage.
• Work with particles/dust. Any activity that creates a lot of small particles, such as wood work or metal lathing, is a threat to your eyes.

Be safe and wear protection whenever your eyes might be in danger!

3 – Stop using nicotine

ANY form of nicotine is harmful to your body in numerous ways, including your eyes. Smoking causes long-term damage to the eyes, increasing your chances of cataracts, macular degeneration, and other forms of optic nerve damage.

And no, vaping is NOT an exception to this. Vaping does slightly less damage than actual smoking, but any form of nicotine consumption is dangerous and harmful.

4 – Reduce eye strain and screen use

Many studies have begun linking screen use to a startling rise in nearsightedness worldwide, especially among youths. The exact causes aren’t entirely known yet, but there’s a lot of reason to think we’re harming our vision by staring at our phones and computers all day.

So follow the 20/20/20 rule: Take a break from your screen every 20 minutes to look at an object at least 20 feet away, for at least 20 seconds. This helps prevent damage.

5 – Get regular eye exams!

A basic eye exam isn’t simply about testing your vision. Your optometrist can detect a wide variety of eye diseases early on, before they can do real damage. A yearly exam is preventative medicine, and in this case, it can genuinely prevent vision loss.

If it’s been more than a year since your last exam, contact Valley Eyecare Center in Phoenix for an appointment!