How to Protect Your Young Athlete’s Eyes (April Sports Eye Safety Month)
Getting your kids out to play sports can be great fun, but it’s not without some risks. During Sports Eye Safety Month, let’s go over what you can do to protect their vision.
5 Ways You Can Protect Healthy Vision
Your eyes take in information in many ways, similar to how a camera works, and directly transmit everything to your brain. It isn’t easy to imagine the world without them working properly so that's why protecting their health is essential.
To help improve awareness about how important your eyes are, May is Healthy Vision Month. In the spirit of this event, we’re exploring the many things you can do to protect your eyes by looking at what problems can affect them, steps to prevent them from happening, and how we can help.
If you live in the Pelham Gardens area of the Bronx, New York and you’re looking for ways to stay ahead of eye problems, the team of doctors at Bronx Eye Associates can help.
Problems that affect vision
Eye conditions can affect your vision in several ways, depending on which part of the eye is affected, the visual functions they disrupt, and whether the problem is short-term (acute) or long-lasting (chronic). Here are some examples:
Irritation
This temporary problem results from dirt or other particles getting into your eye due to materials in your environment. This can lead to watering, puffiness, redness, and discomfort when trying to see.
Injury
Impact from falls or other accidents can lead to acute or chronic eye conditions.
Refractive disorders
This affects how light enters your eye, which results in issues seeing things up close (myopia or presbyopia as you get older) or far away (hyperopia). This develops over time and isn’t noticeable right away.
Diseases
Various medical conditions can cause vision loss, such as diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, glaucoma, and cataracts. The effects of these illnesses can be minor to start, but as they progress without treatment, they can lead to limited or complete loss of sight.
Cancer
A rare condition where tumors form but are often not harmful (benign). If they are detected, they usually still require removal to prevent possible problems in the future.
Tips to keep eyes healthy
You can help lower your chances of eye problems by following these basic steps:
1. Learn your family history of illness
Some eye diseases are inherited, like glaucoma, retinal degeneration, ocular atrophy, lazy eye (amblyopia), and crossed eyes (strabismus). Learning about any family history of problems like these can make identifying the signs much easier in the early stages.
2. Watch what you eat
Diet plays a significant role in just about everything in our lives, including how well we see. Eating more foods with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals goes a long way to lower your risks and avoid foods that lead to diabetes, which causes diabetic retinopathy.
3. Improving lifestyle choices
Making changes in your everyday life, like getting more exercise and not smoking, can make a big difference in your risk of problems like cataracts, dry eye, macular degeneration, and optic nerve problems.
4. Manage related health issues
If you have a disease that can damage your eyes, like diabetes, managing it can also reduce your chances of complications.
5. Routine eye visits
How often you get exams depends on your individual needs. However, getting your eyes checked annually or biannually if you have a family history of illnesses or are over 60 helps monitor your eye health.
These tips can help you enjoy seeing the world for as long as possible. For questions and concerns about other things you can do to keep those eyes healthy, make an appointment with the team at Bronx Eye Associates today.
You Might Also Enjoy...
If You’re a Contact Lens Wearer, Here’s Why You Still Need a Pair of Glasses
Contact lenses are a popular way to improve your vision without visible eyewear like traditional glasses. However, there are still good reasons to keep a pair of them around, and here’s why.
Is Age-Related Macular Degeneration Preventable?
There are a range of illnesses that can affect your eyes as you get older, and macular degeneration is one that over time leads to central vision loss. But is this an eye condition that can be prevented? Find out by reading more.
3 Methods to Slow The Progression of Myopia
Myopia is a common eye problem for children and adults, and there are some great ways to manage the condition as it develops. However, what can you do to slow down how quickly it progresses?
Heal Your Corneal Ulcer with Innovative Prokera
Your cornea protects your eye and filters the light that comes in, but corneal ulcers are a serious problem that can lead to vision loss without treatment. Prokera is a device that can help heal corneal ulcers.
Why Are Cataracts So Common in Seniors?
Cataracts are an eye condition that can cloud the lens of your eye and obscure your vision. Here's why they're so common among seniors and what you can do to treat them.