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It's easy to see that if you play sports like you mean it, your eyes needs to be protected from hazards like flying balls and other player's elbows. In those arenas, wearing goggles or a face mask can provide you with the safety you need.
But eye safety is important in other, less athletic areas of your life as well. Goggles and safety glasses will keep away dangerous materials in the air depending on what you may be working with. If you have home renovation projects, or work in manufacturing or carpentry for instance, keep your eyes protected with goggles.
There are other dangers to your eyes that are less obvious, but should also be addressed to preserve you from damaging your eyes, losing your vision, or becoming blind.
Sporting a different kind of eyewear can reduce your risk for macular degeneration and cataracts. I refer here to sunglasses. Look for glasses that will block 99 - 100 percent of UVA and UVB rays. Polarized lenses reduce glare and wraparound lenses fend off sun's rays from the sides.
Don't restrict your sunglass use to summer time. They are useful in deflecting glare around water no matter what the season. In winter they protect you from the sun's glare off the snow.
UV protection can also be provided by contact lenses. The protection is restricted to a much smaller area than glasses, especially wraparounds. Contacts do nothing for eyelids and part of the eye surface.
If you wear contacts, don't leave them in longer than they should be or they can become irritated. If this happens too much you can end up with a corneal ulcer. Be fastidious and use the proper solution to keep your lenses clean.
Put your eye doctor on your to-do list and go for regular checkups. If any health problem affecting your eyes should appear, such as cataracts, glaucoma, or macular degeneration, regular visits will help your eye doctor to catch it early.
Do you spend a lot of time in front of a computer screen? The more time you spend, the greater your risk is for a condition called computer vision syndrome (CVS).
If you use your computer for three hours or more per day, you may experience blurry vision, eyestrain, or have trouble with distance vision. You may have pain in your back, neck or shoulders, or have headaches.
Cutting back computer time not an option? You can hedge your bets by staying current with any prescriptions for contact lenses or glasses. And taking breaks regularly from your monitor can reduce ill effects on your eyes.
Your eyes are your window on the world. Treat them like the treasures they are.
Jody Smith is a freelance writer for Empowher.com
Sources:
Maintaining Good Eye Health
http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/good-eyesight
10 Tips to Protect Your Eyes
http://healthyliving.msn.com/diseases/vision/10-tips-to-protect-your-eyes-1
Related Links:
Eye Health Tip: Protect Against Computer Vision Syndrome
Eye Health Tip: If You're Sick, Don't Wear Contacts
http://www.empowher.com/pink-eye/content/eye-health-tip-if-you-re-sick-don-t-wear-contacts
Eye Health is Impacted by Your Body Health
http://www.empowher.com/eyes-amp-vision/content/eye-health-impacted-your-body-health
