It’s impossible to imagine a life without eyesight. We rely on our eyes for almost every task. Although many courageous people in this world live life to its fullest without the gift of sight, take it from us – a life with no company is a challenging one.
Since vision is super important and we can’t afford to lose it, it’s time that we talk about some everyday bad habits that hurt your eyes. We all have habits, some of them are good, and some are not so good. And while changing or giving up these habits may seem complicated, your eyes are worth it.
Here are the 7 bad habits that lead to low vision or weak eyesight.
Being a smartphone zombie
The overuse of technology is a bad thing. Kids these days spend way more time on their smartphones than studying or playing outdoor games. The situation is the same for adults spending screen time at their offices.
If you had to put up with eye pain after you’ve been glued to your screen for so long and wonder why it happened, let us give you an answer – blue light. Our digital devices have blue light, and the more time we spend on them, the more complex our eyes have to work to look at the screen.
And if you think that screen time only brings eye pain, brace yourself for shocking news. Blue light is also able to trigger cataract and macular degeneration. If you can’t avoid this light, you can block it if you wear blue light glasses.
These glasses have a special coating that filters out the blue waves and protects your eyes from blue light harm. Also, make sure that you get an annual eye health checkup to ensure that everything is okay in there.
I am not getting enough sleep.
Do you have trouble sleeping at night? Are you not able to sleep even if it’s past 1 AM and all lights are out? Well, you can blame your devices for this as well. When we talked about blue light harms, we forgot to tell you that it disrupts your sleep/wake cycle and makes you less sleepy. Again, wearing blue light glasses will help you sleep better even though you’ve spent countless hours on your mobile in the day. Blue light blocking glasses ensure healthy levels of melatonin hormone in your body and help you sleep better.
Not eating unhealthy
A bad diet is probably the most common reason behind your overall bad health. Like the rest of your body, your eyes are also affected by what you eat in a day. You’ve probably heard that you should eat carrots for a healthy vision. That’s because carrots have vitamin C, which is extremely important for your eyes.
Vitamin C, vitamin A, E, zinc, and omega-3 fatty acids also support good eye health. Including fishes, meat, eggs, and green leafy vegetables in your diet will help you hit the right balance of nutrition and strengthen your eyes. If your eyes are already weak and you need prescription glasses, these nutrients will prevent your eye health from getting worse.
Rubbing your eyes
Let’s admit, we all have this habit. Whether something penetrates our eyes or we had a long day at work seems like rubbing our eyes will make us feel better. However, rubbing your eyes too often can do a lot of bad things. It can damage the delicate cells inside your eyes, scratch the corneal surface or change its shape. Whatever bad it leads to, your eyes will have to pay the cost.
Forgetting to wear sunglasses
UV rays damage our skin and eyes. Spending time in the sun and not having your sunglasses can deteriorate your macular health (the central part of your eye that helps you see). So, don’t forget to wear your shades when the sun is out. If you wear prescription eyeglasses, there are transition glasses that remain clear indoors and darken outdoors. They will work as both eyeglasses and sunglasses.
Smoking
Smoking is injurious to almost every part of your body, and that includes your eyes too. Smoking causes increased inflammation in the eyes. It leads to extra pressure in the eye and turns into cataracts, macular degeneration, or glaucoma over time. Smoking is even more dangerous for patients with diabetes.
Not wearing eye protection.
Your eyes need protection from environmental pollutants too. So, when going to a windy place, protect your eyes from the flying dust and dirt by wearing eye shielding glasses. You can order drinks online with wide lenses to give better protection to your eyes. This reduces the risk of eye allergies and infections that could turn worse in no time.