EYE CARE
The eye is a vital organ that provides us with the sense of sight, allowing us to perform countless activities everyday, whether working, reading, writing, driving a car or watching television.Maintaining eye health improves the quality of life for people throughout their lifespan. Proper eye health care helps slow down the processes associated with ageing such as macular degeneration.
Nutrition for healthy eyes
Vitamin A, B, C, E, Lutein, Zeaxanthin, selenium, Lycopene and Zinc are important to maintain healthy eyes. These nutrients are helpful for many types of eye problems like poor vision, cataract, glaucoma, age related macular degeneration. These nutrients help to keep the blood vessels, retina healthy and to slow the ageing of the eye. The following table gives the food sources for vitamins and minerals required for healthy eyes:
| Nutrients | Rich Sources |
| Vitamin A | Fish liver oil, liver, carrots, egg, cheese, butter, milk, green vegetables, Yellow and orange fruits and vegetables. |
| Vitamin B | Brewer's yeast, yeast extract, wheatgerm, complex wholegrain cereals. |
| Vitamin C | Citrus fruits, other fruits including tomatoes, green vegetables, potatoes. |
| Vitamin E | Wheat germ, vegetable oils, wholegrain bread and cereals, green vegetables. |
| Lutein and Zeaxanthin | Spinach, peas and many yellow/orange fruits and vegetables provide lutein. Corn, orange, peppers and certain leafy greens provide Zeaxanthin. |
| Lycopene | Watermelon, papaya, rosehips, and pink grapefruits or guava. |
| Selenium | Fish and shellfish, sesame and sunflower seeds, wholegrain cereals. |
| Zinc | Shellfish, liver, red meats, eggs, nuts and seeds. |
Exercise for healthy eyes
Eye exercises are beneficial because they reduce eyestrain, help eyes work together and keep eye muscles strong and flexible. Other conditions that appear to benefit from eye exercises are: headaches, fatigue, concentration problems and vision related learning disabilities. Close your eyes tightly for 3-5 seconds and then open them for 3-5 seconds. Repeat this 7-8 times Close your eyes and massage them very lightly with circular movements of your fingers for 1-2 minutes. Sit and relax. Roll your clockwise, then counter-clockwise. Repeat 5 times and blink in between each time. Hold a pencil in front of you at arm's length. Move your slowly to your nose and follow the pencil with your eyes until you can't keep it in focus. Repeat 10 times. Focus on a distant object (over 150feet or 50m away) for several seconds and slowly refocus your eyes on a nearby object (less than 30 feet or 10m away) that's in the same direction. Focus for several seconds and go back to the distant object. Do this for 5 times.
Contact Lens – Cleaning and Care
Here are the guidelines to follow in caring for your contact lenses: Never sleep without removing contact lenses unless approved by your eye doctor. Overnight lenses should never be worn for more than 6 nights in a raw. Whenever a lens is removed, it should be cleaned, rinsed and disinfected before being worn again.Always handle your lenses with clean hands. Wash, rinse and dry your hands with a lint-free towel. Be careful to protect your lenses from lotions, creams, and sprays. Lenses should always be inserted before applying makeup and removed after makeup has been removed. Never wet your lenses with saliva, tap water, or any homemade solutions. Always use recommended commercial products.
Tips for buying good sunglasses
Protect your eyes by wearing sunglasses. Besides making you look pretty slick, a good pair of shades can provide protection from the sun's harmful effects! Look for a label that tells you how much UV protection the sunglasses offer. Ideally, your shades should block 99% to 100% of UV radiation. Close-fitting sunglasses help to block light more effectively. Look for wraparound shades or large Lenses. Gray, green, and brown lenses usually give better protection then other colours. More expensive shades may be more fashionable, but they don't provide more protection.
Fight the dark circle menace
Many people suffer from dark circles under or around the eyes. Dark circles make people look tired and exhausted, if not unhealthy, and can occur due to a wide variation of reasons. Dark circles are seen in all age groups but seem to occur more in women. The major causes attributed o this menace are lack of sleep and stress. However hereditary is also held as a reason often. Try following to get rid of dark circles:
1) Drinking Lots of Water
2) Get Plenty of Sleep
3) Eat Plenty of Proteins, fish, fresh fruit and vegetables (vitamin c and iron) and cut down your salt intake.
Things to always remember for healthy eyes
Eat lots of fruits, vegetables & carrots which are helpful in maintaining healthy eyes.
1) Press cold cucumber slices gently against eyes 10 minutes before going to sleep at night to prevent puffiness.
2) Wear UV protective sunglasses. Get polarized lenses, not just darker lenses.
3) Try not to spend too much time continuously looking at your Television or computer screen.
4) Be sure to wear goggles or other eye protective while working with chemicals or any place with harmful airborne particulates.
5) Read the labels of eye drops carefully: many drops cannot be used, if you wear contact lenses.
6) Never look into the sun for long.
7) Visit your Ophthalmologist every year.