It is a regular day and you have a same routine to follow except that in the evening you have an appointment with your ophthalmologist. Your annual check-up was not due, but lately you have started noticing that you have frequent headaches. Even wearing your glasses all the time does not ease the pain, so much so that sometimes you have to strain to see things clearly. The doctor tells you that your spectacle number has increased and you need a new pair of glasses. But you just changed your glasses few months back for the same reason!
This might be happening because of grave mistakes that you might be committing unknowingly on a daily basis. Identify these errors and stop them today!
● Outdoor time- It is important for children as well as adults to spend quality time in outdoor activities in which there is a necessity to focus on distant objects like riding a bike, playing football, tennis etc.
● Limit indoor activities, like watching television, playing cards, and surfing oncomputer, as much as possible because these strain your eyes due to theconstant close distance that limits your eye movements.
● Avoid using tablets, laptops, iPad, etc., in darkness, as the eyes have tostrain much more while adjusting to the darkness.
● Do not read in a moving vehicle because it stresses out your eyes faster.
● If you have spectacles, make it a habit of wearing them on daily basis, as not wearing glasses also exerts strain on your eyes when you have to focus on objects, both near and far.
● If you are using lenses instead of spectacles, do not wear them for prolonged duration, as they may cause dryness and can be very harmful.
● If your job requires you to work on computer screens for long hours, take breaks at regular intervals, do eye exercises in between, you can even put up a transparent shield on the computer screen so that your eyes are not exposed to direct UV rays from the screen or you can even wear glasses with no number to prevent the same. Remember 20-20 rule for computer users.
● Finally, a healthy diet is a key to almost all human health issues; the same holds true for healthy eyes too. Have a diet that is rich in beta-carotene,like carrots, mangoes, papayas, as it helps the retina to work smoothly.Green leafy vegetables, like spinach, kale, collard, etc., are rich sources of antioxidants, such as lutein and zeaxanthin, which are good for eyes. Eggs,whole grains, citrus fruits and berries, nut and legumes are good sources of vitamins that have positive effects on eyes.
So make these few changes in your lifestyle that will assist you in maintaining optimum health of your eyes and also prevent your spectacle numbers from inflating like the stock market figure you are staring at.