5 Ways to Keep Your Eyes Safe for Life

By Jane Farrell

Keeping eyes healthy is important at any age, beginning with young children. February is Low Vision Awareness Month, and Lighthouse Guild, the leading not-for-profit vision and healthcare organization, recommends the following to keep eyes healthy throughout your life:

Get regular eye exams.

Vision screenings and eye exams are critical to maintaining eye health. Comprehensive dilated eye exams for adults can help detect glaucoma, macular degeneration and other serious eye diseases that can lead to blindness. Vision screenings can help detect problems, such as amblyopia, also known as lazy eye, in children.

Speak up if your vision changes.

If you notice blurry spots, blurred vision, halos surrounding lights, eyes that itch or burn, black spots or “floaters,” double vision, tearing or watering eyes, or if you find yourself squinting or having trouble reading or watching television, it’s time to make an appointment. An eye doctor should be made aware of any gradual changes in your vision so the necessary action can be taken to maintain eye health.

Seek urgent care.

Seek urgent care if you experience sudden and/or severe eye pain, sudden loss of vision in one or both eyes, light flashes, or if your eyes turn bright red. Any of these could indicate a severe problem and should be addressed immediately.

Get UV-protected sunglasses.

Tinted glasses will not necessarily protect your eyes from harmful UV rays. It is important to get good quality eyewear that provides both UVA and UVB coverage to protect your eyes properly.

Give your eyes a rest from the effects of digital eyestrain.

This type of eye strain—also known as computer vision syndrome—doesn’t permanently damage eyesight, but symptoms could include burning or tired eyes, headaches, neck pain, fatigue, blurred or double vision. To rest your eyes, it’s good to look up from your work every 20 minutes, focus on an object 20 feet away for 20 seconds (the 20-20-20 rule).

“The most important thing you can do to protect your vision is to get an eye exam,” says Dr. Laura Sperazza, Director of Low Vision Services at Lighthouse Guild. “If you find out you’re in the early stages of an eye disease, your eye care professional will help you maintain the highest possible level of eye health and visual function.”

Lighthouse Guild, based in New York, is the leading not-for-profit healthcare organization dedicated to addressing and preventing vision loss through coordinated vision and health services. With Lighthouse Guild, people who are at risk for, or affected by, vision loss have access to all the resources necessary to lead full, independent and productive lives. For more information, visit http://www.lighthouseguild.org/.

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