The eyesight is the most crucial of all the senses in our body. Eyes help us understand the happenings around us and help us move. Today, our vision is at risk due to many factors, including our dietary habits, the environments we live and work in, and many more. Especially in situations like lockdown, it is sometimes hard to take care of our eyes as we are unable to get urgent medical consultation.
Only a few brands like EyeBuyDirect, Overnight Glasses, Sterling Optical, Warby Parker, etc., are providing emergency glasses services when required. Therefore taking precautions and good care of our eyes is becoming more important. In this article, we will discuss in detail what are the most common eye-related vulnerabilities and techniques to avoid them.
Mostly in our youth, we take our eyes for granted and do not pay much attention to their health unless some severe symptoms occur. Some habits like smoking, alcohol consumption, or too much screen time lead to eye-related severe infections like Cataracts, Macular Degeneration, Glaucoma, etc.
Bad Habits to Avoid:
The eye-related problems simply follow the cause-effect relationship. All ailments occur due to a specific bad habit we adopt or sometimes due to our genetics. A few bad habits are mentioned below with a description of associated diseases and their treatments, respectively;
Prolonged on-screen time:
As technology has almost encapsulated every aspect of our daily routine, we are surrounded by blue light emissions all day through our smartphone or laptop/PC screens. It is noticed that this blue light has harmful effects on our eyes. Therefore, it is suggested to use blue-light-blocking glasses to mitigate these effects, protect our eyes, and minimize our on-screen time too.
Screen time is also found associated with a particular disease known as CVS (computer vision syndrome). Following are some consequences of this syndrome:
- Blurred vision
- Asthenopia (Eye strain)
- Painful or Dry Eyes
- Related non-ocular symptoms
Cure:
The first and foremost approach towards this syndrome is reducing on-screen time. Furthermore, if the problem persists, visiting an ophthalmologist is suggested. Several medication forms are available for these conditions, including sprays, gels, drops, and ointments. Another essential tool is the 20:20:20 rule.
Smoking:
Do you think smoking only affects your lungs? You would be surprised to learn that smoking affects almost all your senses. For example, your sense of taste and smell is suppressed, your blood thickens, and you are prone to develop heart-related diseases; smoking leads to sperm damage and can cause infertility as well. In addition to above-mentioned harmful effects, smoking also leads to the following eye-related problems;
- AMD (Age-related Macular Degeneration)
- Diabetic Retinopathy
- Formation of Cataracts
- Glaucoma
- DED (Dry Eye disease)
Hence, it is in the best interest of your eyes and other essential body parts to avoid smoking. If you are a smoker, seek help; if you are not, don’t start.
Remedy:
Unfortunately, there is no cure to smoking unless you quit it. Quitting such a habit is not easy; therefore, it is recommended to contact support groups or rehabilitation centers in this regard. Smoking-induced diseases are sometimes treated with surgery, like cataracts, and sometimes medication is helpful in DED, Glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy. Consulting a doctor in the early stages of these diseases is advised.
Alcohol Abuse:
Drinking too much wine cannot only damage your liver but can also affect your eyes adversely. A disease known as keratoconjunctivitis sicca, a.k.a DED, is closely associated with alcohol abuse. The symptoms of this disease include visual disturbance, watery eyes, burning, soreness, irritation, or a feeling like there is sand in the eyes (grittiness).
Research shows that heavy alcohol consumption also causes blindness and AMD ( Age-related Macular Degeneration). Unfortunately, there is no easy way to avoid these ailments until and unless alcohol consumption is avoided or reduced to recommended levels.
Other Eye-related threats:
Apart from the lifestyle mentioned above changes, specific other threats exist as well. These ailments develop due to hereditary or genetic behavior. Following is a description of such conditions and their possible treatments.
Refractive Errors:
Light rays enter our eyeball through the lens and are directed towards the retina. If the shape of our eyeball, lens, and cornea is perfect, our vision is excellent; but if there exists an anomaly in the size or shape of our eyeball, lens, cornea, our vision is blurred. This ailment is known as refractive error. Following are the types of refractive errors:
- Hyperopia
- Myopia
- Astigmatism
- Presbyopia
Treatment:
The treatment of nearsightedness and farsightedness is simply using prescription glasses. At a young age, eyesight recovers with some dietary modifications, but adults’ chances of eyesight recovery are rare.
Usage of Contact Lens:
You must take utmost care while using contact lenses. As these lenses are in contact with your eyeball, these can affect your eyes in various harmful ways.
