Tips For Protecting Your Eyes
Chicago, Illinois
Despite how important good vision is in almost every aspect of our daily lives, many people still fail to practice proper eye safety. Protecting your eyes can help you avoid serious injuries and eye diseases that can compromise your vision and even lead to blindness. Although there is no way to guarantee perfect vision for a lifetime, a few simple lifestyle changes can help you manage your risk.
Protect Your Eyes Against Injury
According to Prevent Blindness America (PBA), around 850,000 Americans suffer eye damage every year from injuries. The majority of eye injuries occur at work, at home, or while participating in sports.
Whenever you are playing a sport or working in a hazardous environment, be sure to wear protective eyewear that is specifically designed for the task at hand. For example, there are several different types of protective sports eyewear that are designed for individual sports. These will protect you far better than a generic brand of all-purpose sports goggles.
Protect Your Eyes Against Disease
If you spend a lot of time in the sun without protecting your eyes, you may increase your risk of certain eye diseases, such as:
- Cataracts
- Macular degeneration
- Drye eye syndrome
- Pterygium
- Photokeratitis (“sunburn of the cornea”)
Wearing sunglasses will protect your eyes from sun damage, and also help prevent the onset of these diseases. While cataracts are a common development in most adults, they often start to form much earlier in people whose eyes have suffered sun damage.
Be sure to purchase sunglasses that block 100% of UVA and UVB rays. Sunglasses with large lenses that fit close to your eyes are the best option, since this helps protect the sensitive skin around your eyes from skin cancer.
Other Tips for Eye Safety
A few other key ways of protecting your eyes are:
- Quitting smoking
- Eating a well-balanced diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables
- Seeing your eye doctor annually for vision exams
- Keeping systemic issues controlled (e.g. diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol)
If you have further questions about eye health and safety, please contact Doctors For Visual Freedom today to schedule an initial consultation with our experienced Chicago ophthalmologist Dr. Mark Golden. We serve patients in the Chicago and Arlington Heights areas of Illinois.
Two Locations:
Doctors for Visual Freedom Laser Center
875 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 1550
Chicago, IL 60611 | Doctors for Visual Freedom Laser Center
2010 S Arlington Heights Rd, Suite 121
Arlington Heights, IL 60005 |
