From driving to your favorite coffeehouse to reading the latest news, you need your eyes to be able to carry out so many things. And that is why having healthy eyes and sharp vision is important.
There are certain habits that are downright damaging to your eyesight. You may be doing some of them and still have no idea that you are risking your eye health. Continue reading to know some habits known to be bad for the eyesight. Do your best to eliminate in your life the ones you’re guilty of. Here they are:
Smoking
Over 7,000 chemicals can be found in cigarette smoke. Some of them such as carbon monoxide and nicotine damage the blood vessels, getting in the way of good blood circulation. Your eyes are just some of the organs that can be easily damaged by poor circulation. With hampered supply of nutrients and oxygen, your eye health and vision are in danger. Smoking is also known to aggravate existing eye problems such as cataracts and macular degeneration.
Watching on Your Laptop or Tablet
It’s cool and convenient to be able to bring your favorite movies or TV shows with you via a portable gadget like a laptop or tablet. However, the fact that you tend to watch the display panel from a really close proximity can put a lot of strain on your peepers. If you cannot avoid watching on a portable gadget, take frequent breaks.
Refusal to Wear Sunglasses
Everyone knows that the sun’s UV rays can make your skin age like crazy, including the area around your eyes. But did you know that those invisible rays given off by the sun can cause various eye diseases too? Some of them include macular degeneration, retinal injury, cataracts and pterygium — also referred to as surfer’s eyes. No matter if the weather is sunshiny or cloudy, always put on a pair of sunglasses designed to block those eye-damaging UV rays.
Eating Less Brightly Colored Foods
Fruits and vegetables that boast of bright colors are packed with vitamins and antioxidants that are good for your eyes. The likes of oranges, grapefruits, guavas, red berries, carrots, tomatoes, bell peppers, sweet potatoes, pumpkins and broccoli contain nutrients that help keep the vision sharp and delay the development or progression of age-related diseases of the eyes such as cataracts, glaucoma and macular degeneration.
Reading While in a Moving Vehicle
Long trips can be a bore but you should look for other activities to keep yourself preoccupied other than reading. Because your eyes need to constantly adjust themselves to focus on what you are reading while the vehicle you are in keeps rocking, it’s not unlikely for eye strain to happen together with symptoms like headache and blurred vision.
Lying in Front of the Television
There are many problems that can stem from being a couch potato, and one of them includes eye strain and deterioration of vision. It’s because your eyes are forced to watch whatever is on the screen at an odd angle.
Forgetting to Blink While Using a Computer
No matter if you are intently using a computer to play a game, surf the internet, watch a movie or work, it’s not unlikely for you to forget to blink. Proof to this is having dry and itchy eyes after some time of being seated in front of your computer. Every few seconds, make it a habit to blink to keep the eyes moist. Because prolonged computer use is inevitable for many people, there are eye drops available these days formulated for computer-users.
Squinting
If you find yourself squinting, it’s either you are too close to what you are looking at or the letters are simply too small. Squinting is literally distorting the shape of your eyeballs. While it may make you look like a supermodel during photo ops, squinting while reading or watching something is definitely bad for the eyes.
Not Getting Enough Sleep
It’s no secret that insufficient sleep can leave you with eye bags and dark circles. But did you know that not spending enough hours in dreamland is bad for your eye-health too? Eye spasm, eye dryness and even popped blood vessels are some problems that you may end up with because of sleep deprivation.
Reading with Insufficient Lighting
This one is a no-brainer. Reading a book is one of the most productive and admirable pastimes around. But if you’re doing it where there’s not enough light to illuminate the pages, then it quickly becomes a habit detrimental to your eye health. Before you allow a book to take you to another time or space, ensure that there’s enough light first.
