This week is World Optometry Week, and its very symbolic as we recognize and honor the eye care profession. One devoted to providing comprehensive eye care, with professionals who work earnestly to make this care accessible to all.
The World Council of Optometry (WCO) defines an optometrist as a healthcare professional who provides comprehensive eye care and vision care. This includes refraction and dispensing detectional diagnosis, management of disease (s) in the eye, and the rehabilitation of conditions of the visual system.
Here are a few general eye care routines that can help you maintain healthy vision:
- Include Essential Vitamins And Minerals in Your Diet: Foods rich in vitamins, nutrients, minerals, and antioxidants and help prevent most eye problems and vision-related issues. Foods rich in omega-3 fatty acid are also important.
- Use Sunglasses: Sunglasses play a huge role in protecting your eyes from the damaging UVA and UVB rays. Exposure to sun rays causes many vision-related issues, such as macular degeneration and cataracts.
- Always Wear Protective Eyewear: Always remember to wear protective eyewear to avoid the risk of injury e.g. during contact sports.
- Know Your Family’s Eye Health History: Some eye issues such as glaucoma, are hereditary. Knowledge of your family history can help you take precautions.
- Avoid Touching Your Eyes Frequently: Frequently touching your eye makes it vulnerable to infection. Anything that irritates your eyes can affect your vision. You must always clean your hands before touching your eyes.
- For computer users, keep the area well lit: Ensure that the area is well lit, and the computer screen is not brighter than the background light. Also, sit away from the window to minimize glare as it makes your eyes work harder, thus straining them.
- Observe 20-20-20 Rule: Every 20 minutes, take a break and look at something that’s at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds. This helps in reducing eye strain and improves the eye’s ability to focus.
- Blink: Failure to blink causes dry eye syndrome, which is when there isn’t enough moisture in the eye. So it is important to blink as often as possible. Take extra care to do this while working, as we are prone to being so engrossed that we sometimes forget to blink.