5 Ways to Protect Your Eyesight and Maintain Your Vision as You Age

Posted July 23, 2022 by Guest Poster -

While aging, some vision changes will occur, and these are just normal. This is why people in their mid-40s and above mostly use glasses or contact lenses to enhance their visual clarity.

With time, the lenses making up the eyes become less flexible, reducing the ability to read and see objects far from you clearly. Unfortunately, no magic pill can cure all these eye problems. But you can lower the risks. Below are five ways to protect your eyesight and maintain your vision as you age.

1. Wear Sunglasses When Outside

Apart from being a trendy fashion accessory, sunglasses are very vital when it comes to protecting your eyes from the ultraviolet rays emitted by the sun and other refractive surfaces. Approximately more than 12 million people who are 40 years and above in the U.S. have vision issues.

Even though the number of people with eye problems is huge, there are only a few who protect themselves from the ultraviolet rays with sunglasses while outdoors. Wearing sunglasses outside can protect your eyesight and maintain your vision as you age.

When looking for the glasses, select FL-41 tinted glasses instead of choosing style over the safety of the eyes. The sunglasses should be able to block 99 to 100% of the harmful ultraviolet rays. You can get quality glasses from a reputable source. Whether going out surfing, hiking, or biking, ensure that you wear your sunglasses.

2. Rest Your Eyes Regularly

The advancing technology has brought along a lot of benefits. Today, you can stream your favorite movies or shows and watch for many hours as you wish. Most people watch these movies for more than thirty minutes without resting their eyes. To make matters worse, they had spent their day working on their computers and still had to reply to their friends’ texts on their phones. If your life is like this, you must change and rest your eyes regularly.

Failure to do this will result in fatigued eyes by the end of the day. Make it your routine to look at something else that’s away from your screen after every twenty minutes of staring at the computer screen when working. It will help reduce eye strain, which maintains your vision for a bit longer. Spending too much time on the screen often leads to short-sightedness.

3. Eat Vision-Healthy Foods

It’s possible to maintain and protect your eyesight by eating vision-healthy foods. Maybe, you have heard the benefits of eating carrots for the benefit of the eyes. There are plenty of other foods that you can take to improve and maintain your vision. Take a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, including dark leafy greens like spinach, kales, and collard greens. Dark leafy greens contain lutein and zeaxanthin, antioxidants that prevent cataract formation.

Grapes also offer a lot of nutritional benefits to the eyes. A diet rich in grapes protects the retina against the effectiveness of oxidative stress. This protects the eyes from retinal degeneration. Grapes provide higher levels of antioxidant protection and prevent AMD. Take omega-3 fatty acid-rich foods as they offer many health benefits to the eyes. They prevent the ocular surface inflammation and other irritations associated with severe dry eye.

4. Go For Regular Eye Checkups

When was the last time you attended an eye checkup? It’s all about ensuring that you protect the eyes from any slight damage. When you attend eye checkups, you can diagnose eye issues on time and treat them before the condition gets severe.

Though your vision may appear clear, there is no way you can claim that your eyes are 100% healthy unless a trained professional checks them. Through the eye test, you will be advised whether you need to start wearing specks or not.

For instance, you can attend a comprehensive dilated eye exam if you feel your vision is as clear as it used to be. Specialists will add drops into the eye to widen the pupil. Widening of the pupil allows the eye care professionals to view the optic never, macula, and the retina.

5. Stop Smoking and Maintain a Healthy Weight

Most smokers are highly likely to risk developing the AMD that leads to blindness than those who have never smoked. The risk of getting AMD remains high even after more than 20 years of quitting. Smoking leads to vascular constrictions, which affect the supply of nutrients to the cornea and retina tissues. It may also lead to cellular changes that may affect the performance of the eyes.

Being overweight affects more aspects of your life, like blood pressure and sugar control, and is not limited to your vision. Research suggests that people with obesity are highly likely to develop cataracts than those with normal weight. Obesity increases the risk of glaucoma, leading to fluid build-up inside the eyes and poor eyesight.   

First Two Pictures Photo Credit: Krystal Brewer Photography

This post is sponsored by OverNightGlasses.com

Categories: Health and Wellness, This and That

Tags: , aging and your eyes, eye checkup, eye health, glasses, guest post, health and wellness, vision care, vision health