By Latika Mani, The Fred Hollows Foundation
While they may be small, eyes are amazing organs. Your eyes have a lot of working parts and each of these parts has a complex role in helping you see. That's why it’s important to look after your eyes in order to protect your vision. Sight plays a significant role in how you connect and communicate with the world around you. Now more than ever, your eyes are most likely working overtime – whether it’s to process the news and the ever-evolving information on COVID-19, or to stay connected with loved ones while social distancing. Add to the mix, working remotely from home where the lines can blur a bit between ‘home time’ and ‘work time’ – and these all add up to more screen time, less time resting, and very little (if any) time for self-care. That’s why it’s so important to look after your eyes, paying a little more attention to their maintenance. COVER PHOTO: Hugh Rutherford (2009)
Click on the link below to read the tip you want to learn about:
Maintaining a healthy diet is really important to your overall health. That means you should eat a variety of whole foods, including plenty of colourful fruits and vegetables, nuts, grains, legumes, lean meats and good fats to your meals will help you meet your dietary requirements. Here’s a list of 10 eye health superfoods you can add to your diet to help with your vision. The main nutrients needed for good eye health are listed below. They may help to delay the onset or progression of eye conditions such as cataract, diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration.
Vitamin A
Beta carotene
Zinc
Vitamin C
Vitamin E
Omega-3
Lutein
Zeaxanthin
Not being able to spontaneously dash out to the corner store or your local grocer may affect the types of food you eat right now but if possible, try to eat something from the five food groups everyday. While online grocery shopping isn’t as readily available through the major supermarkets as it used to be, there are fresh food delivery options available that may suit your situation.
While the average person blinks 15 to 20 times per minute to keep their eyes lubricated, spending too much time focusing on stationary tasks like working on a computer screen can make your eyes go dry. To combat this, try to blink more often and more intentionally, and use lubricating eye drops regularly. This is extra important in windy and dry environments, and during seasonal weather changes. Another way to keep your eyes feeling fresh is by drinking plenty of water. When you don’t get enough water, your body suffers from dehydration, including your eyes. You should aim to get two litres of water every day.
Keep a diary to see how much time you actually spend on your smartphone, computer or tablet – many of these devices have built-in apps to monitor screen time, social media usage and productivity. It may take a bit of practice to get into the habit but once you see the number of hours you spend using these tech devices, it may help you control the time you spend on them.
Flicking through your phone may seem like an easy way to curb boredom but it can exhaust your eyes. You can limit your overall screen time, be it a computer device or even the TV so that instead of spending huge quantities of time using them, you spend quality time using them by being selective and a conscious consumer
While using a computer for work is inevitable for most of us, it’s important to take regular breaks from concentrating on your screen.
Look away regularly and focus on objects in the distance, such as the opposite end of the room or outside your window. An effective way of doing this is by following the 20-20-20 rule – every 20 minutes focus on something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
If you get too engrossed in your work and are likely to forget, set a notification on your calendar so it reminds you every hour to take a quick five minute break
Consider fitting your mobile device or computer screen with an anti-glare filter. This can help reduce the glare of the screen which may be tiring or even painful to your eyes. You can also ask your optometrist for blue-light lenses for your eyeglasses to help block sleep-disrupting blue light that is emitted from digital screens.
During the current pandemic, it’s important that we physically distance ourselves from people we do not live with, but going for walks or exercising outdoors in groups of two is still allowed. Fresh air and exposure to the outdoors is important for not just your eye health but for your overall well being.
Actively schedule at least two hours of your day to be spent outdoors. Being outdoors will help your eyes focus on distant objects but spending two hours outside in one straight block isn’t realistic for a lot of people. It may be more practical to break your two hours into four half-an-hour chunks and doing some physical activity in your backyard, balcony or around your neighbourhood throughout the day.
It will also help you stay active and avoid a sedentary lifestyle, which can increase your risk of getting diseases such as diabetes. A condition like diabetes can cause diabetic retinopathy, and that can lead to permanent blindness.
It is also recommended that children spend at least 90 minutes of their day playing outdoors so they don’t develop myopia (short-sightedness).
Be sun smart and use protection against harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays when you go outside, whether on foot or while driving.
UV rays may lead to some form of cataract forming in the lens of your eye, which can lead to vision impairment. And if left untreated, it can cause permanent blindness. UV rays can also cause cancers of the eye, and other eye conditions that will impact your eyesight.
Wearing sunglasses and a sun-hat is an easy way to protect your eyes. Consider staying in the shade during very hot and glary conditions, when the sun feels extra harsh.
Right now, going to the beach or hanging out in the park is not an option other than for exercise. In order to slow the spread of COVID-19 we have to listen to the authorities and heed expert medical advice. This means avoiding public areas unless absolutely necessary.
But once the curve is flattened and this pandemic passes, people will be going outdoors in droves. When that time comes, and if you choose to head to the beach at that time, be sure to slip, slop, slap (which you should always do whenever you’re outdoors for a prolonged period of time). And take a sun-umbrella with you – because it's important to protect your eyes just as much as it is to protect your skin.
Safety goggles are really important when you’re performing tasks that involve handling anything that could become airborne. Errant particles can harm your eyes, so be extra careful when lawn mowing, working on your car, renovating around the house, woodworking, handling chemicals or doing any other chores around your home. At this time, you may have upped the ante on cleaning duties – scrubbing surfaces, and disinfecting door handles, stair banisters and tap knobs. When dealing with disinfectants, as well as protecting your hands with gloves, protect your eyes with a pair of goggles. And leave windows open where possible to let fresh air in to avoid your throat and nose getting irritated.
Getting eight hours of sleep every day is important to your overall health. And that holds true now more than ever. A lack of sleep can affect your concentration levels, immune system, and your eyesight too. There’s a reason why you get bags or dark circles under your eyes when you don’t get your 40 winks. When your sleep cycle, you go through different stages, and one of them is REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. REM helps your eyes recover from the day’s exertion. The tiny movements that your eyes make during REM helps to relax your eyes so that they wake up feeling fresh and ready to roll into a brand new day.
Normally, it is recommended that adults should get eye checks done every two years. While having your eyes checked regularly by an optometrist is an important step in maintaining good eye health, and ensuring your prescription is up-to-date – during the current pandemic it may not be possible to do that this very moment.
However, if you have an emergency, broken glasses or an existing eye condition that needs immediate attention or is due for a follow-up, then it’s important to contact your regular health care provider and speak to them, and follow their medical advice.
If you live with a condition like diabetes, then your optometrist has likely told you to have your eyes checked every year or maybe even more regularly. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, it’s best to speak to your regular eye doctor or general practitioner (GP) over the phone and follow their medical advice.
Interested to learn more about the world of eyes?
Latika is a digital content writer for The Fred Hollows Foundation. With over 15 years of professional writing and message amplification experience, she is committed to raising awareness on eye health issues and sharing ideas on maintaining good eye health.
The content on this page is not intended to be medical advice. For specific dietary requirements and medical advice, please contact your health professional.
In the countries where we work, we’re seeing the COVID-19 health crisis unfolding on many fronts. Restoring sight to the needlessly blind in the midst of a global pandemic is an incredible challenge. Take a look at how we are working during this challenging time and to keep up with the latest videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel.