Eye Health: How to Maintain Good Eye Health

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Protecting your eyes starts with the food on your plate. Nutrients such as omega-3 fatty 

acids, lutein, zinc, and vitamins C and E might help ward off age-related vision problems

such as macular degeneration and cataracts, studies show. Regularly eating these

foods can help lead to good eye health:

-Green, leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, and collards

-Salmon, tuna, and other oily fish

-Eggs, nuts, beans, and other non-meat protein sources

-Oranges and other citrus fruits or juices

Eating a well-balanced diet also helps you maintain a healthy weight, which makes

you less likely to get obesity-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is the

leading cause of blindness in adults.

Smoking makes you more likely to get cataracts, optic nerve damage, and macular degeneration. If you've tried to quit smoking before and started smoking again, keep 

trying. The more times you try to quit smoking, the more likely you are to succeed.

The right kind of sunglasses will help protect your eyes from the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays.

Too much UV exposure makes you more likely to get cataracts and macular degeneration.

Choose sunglasses that block 99% to 100% of both UVA and UVB rays. Wraparound lenses 

help protect your eyes from the side. Polarized lenses reduce glare when driving.

If you wear contact lenses, some offer UV protection. It's still a good idea to wear sunglasses 

for more protection, though.

If you work with hazardous or airborne materials on the job or at home, wear safety glasses or protective goggles every time.

Certain sports such as ice hockey, racquetball, and lacrosse can also lead to eye injury. Wear eye protection (such as helmets with protective face masks or sports 

goggles with polycarbonate lenses) to shield your eyes.

WebMD Medical Reference

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Reviewed by Robert Butterwick, OD on April 16, 2014

© 2014 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.

Staring at a computer screen for too long can cause:

Eyestrain

Blurry vision

Trouble focusing at a distance

Dry eyes

Headaches

Neck, back, and shoulder pain

Taking the following steps to protect your eyes:

Make sure your glasses or contact lens prescription is up-to-date and adequate for computer use.

Some people may need glasses to help with contrast, glare, and eye strain when using a computer.

Position your computer so that your eyes are level with the top of the monitor. This allows you to look slightly down at the screen.

Try to avoid glare on your computer from windows and lights. Use an anti-glare screen if needed.

Choose a comfortable, supportive chair. Position it so that your feet are flat on the floor.

If your eyes are dry, blink more.

Every 20 minutes, rest your eyes by looking 20 feet away for 20 seconds. At least every 2 hours, get up and take a 15-minute break.

Everyone, even young children, should get their eyes examined regularly. It helps you protect your sight and see your best.

Eye exams can also find some eye diseases, such as glaucoma, that have no symptoms. It's important to find these diseases early on, when they're easier to 

treat.

Depending on your eye health needs, you can see either an optometrist or an ophthalmologist for an eye exam. Ophthalmologists are medical doctors who 

specialize in eye care. They can provide general eye care, treat eye diseases, and perform eye surgery. Optometrists have had 4 years of specialized training 

after college. They provide general eye care and treat the most common eye diseases. They don't do eye surgery.

A comprehensive eye exam might include:

Talking about your personal and family medical history

Taking vision tests to see if you have nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism (a curved cornea that blurs vision), or presbyopia (age-related vision 

changes)

Tests to see how well your eyes work together

Eye pressure and optic nerve tests to check if you have glaucoma

External and microscopic examination of your eyes before and after dilation

You might also need other tests.

Almost one third of the total population of the world experiences a vision disorder known as myopia or Near 

Sightedness. People who are near sighted have problem in seeing things in distance like road signs, television, or 

the board in class, but have no problem seeing things up close like reading a book.

Common symptoms of Myopia are headaches or eyestrain, and they might feel tired after driving or playing 

sports. If you are having the same symptoms while you have your glasses or contacts on then maybe its time for 

a new eye exam.

Nearsightedness is usually hereditary and is common among kids whose parents are also myopic. This condition 

usually worsens with age; it is called a myopic creep.

Myopia occurs when the eyeball is slightly longer than usual from front to back. This causes light rays to focus at 

a point in front of the retina, rather than directly on its surface. Nearsightedness maybe corrected with glasses or 

contacts or refractive surgery. You may need to wear glasses or contacts all the time depending on your vision 

problem. When you are nearsighted you have a minus number. The higher the number the stronger your lenses 

will be. It is highly recommended for patients with above 3.00 to use polycarbonate lenses. While all kids must 

use polycarbonate no matter what the vision correction would be.

"Oh My... I have Astigmatism!!" is a common reaction when people hear the word "Astigmatism" from their eye 

care professional. Astigmatism is a very common vision problem, but most people don’t know what it is.

An irregularly shaped cornea causes Astigmatism. It may accompany near sightedness or far sightedness. Most 

of the times an irregularly shaped lens causes it, which is located behind the cornea. Glasses, contacts or even 

refractive surgery can correct astigmatism.

If you have only a small amount of astigmatism, you may not detect it or have just slightly blurred vision. But 

sometimes-uncorrected astigmatism can cause headaches or eyestrain, and distort or blur your vision at all 

distances.

According to a study more and more children and being found to have astigmatism. Usually they don’t complain 

even if they are having blurred vision or distorted images. That is why it is important to have an annual eye exam 

for your children.

Astigmatism occurs when the cornea is shaped more like a football than a spherical soccer ball, which is the 

normal shape. In most astigmatic eyes, the oblong (or oval) shape causes light rays to focus on two points in the 

back of your eye, rather than on just one. This is because, like a football, an astigmatic cornea has a steeper 

curve and a flatter one.

Generally astigmatism is hereditary: many people are born with an oblong cornea, and the resulting vision 

problem may get poorer over time. But astigmatism may also result from a damaged eye that has caused 

scarring on the cornea, from certain types of eye surgery, or from keratoconus, a disease that causes a steady 

thinning of the cornea.

Hyperopia or Farsightedness is a common vision problem affecting a quarter of the population. People who suffer 

with hyperopia do not have any problem seeing distance but have difficulty in focusing on things up close. This 

may result in eyestrain or fatigue when working with things at close range. If you are farsighted and still have 

these symptoms while wearing your glasses it maybe time for a new eye exam. This vision problem occurs when 

light rays entering the eye focus behind the retina, rather than directly on it. The eyeball of a farsighted person is 

shorter than normal.

Many children are born with hyperopia, but most of them out grow it as the shape of their eyeball changes with 

normal growth. Usually hyperopia is written in plus powers. You may not need your glasses all the time except 

when on the computer, reading or doing some work at a table distance. The lenses used in glasses for hyperopic 

patients are convex, which is thinner on the edges and thicker in the middle.

When was the last time you were at a restaurant or tried to read a book while wearing your glasses and had to 

move it to arms length to see clearly? This is a normal phenomenon known as presbyopia. If you are performing 

near work such as embroidery or handwriting you may feel fatigue or headaches.

An age-related process causes presbyopia. It is generally believed to stem from a gradual loss of flexibility in the 

natural lens inside your eye. As we grow old the eye loses its power to focus near known as accommodation 

power.

Eyeglasses with bifocal or progressive addition lenses (PALs) are the most common correction for presbyopia. 

Bifocal means two points of focus: the main part of the spectacle lens contains a prescription for nearsightedness 

or farsightedness, while the lower portion of the lens holds the stronger near prescription for close work

Progressive lenses are comparable to bifocal lenses, but they offer a more steady visual transition between the 

two prescriptions, with no visible lines between them. Some people don’t prefer bifocals or progressives. So 

instead they get only readers. Only difference is that it will only work when focusing close up.

Another choice is using contact lenses. Either you can use Multi-focal lenses or mono vision lenses. In mono 

vision lenses one eye uses a distance lens and the other uses a near lens resulting in clear vision both near and 

far.

The clouding of the eye’s natural lens which is located behind the iris and the pupil is known as cataract. The 

lens inside our eye works like a camera lens, it helps to focus light at the back of the eye on the retina. It is also 

used to focus to clear up things when we are looking at them. The lens is usually made of water and protein. The 

way our eye is, the protein is arranged in such a way that it keeps the lens clear and lets light pass through it. 

But as we grow old some of the protein may form clusters and clump together and start to cloud a small area of 

the lens. This is what forms a cataract over time, it may cloud a larger area of the lens, making it harder to see.

When symptoms begin to appear, you may be able to improve your vision for a while using new glasses, strong 

bifocals, magnification, appropriate lighting or other visual aids.Think about surgery when your cataracts have 

progressed enough to seriously impair your vision and affect your daily life. Many people consider poor vision an 

inevitable fact of aging, but cataract surgery is a simple, relatively painless procedure to regain vision.

Glaucoma is same as ocular hypertension but with accompanying optic nerve damage and vision loss. It affects 

around 3 million Americans a year, and 120, 000 become blind because of the condition. In other places in the 

world treatment is less available and is the leading cause of blindness. There are two major types of glaucoma, 

chronic or primary open-angle glaucoma and acute closed-angle glaucoma.

Mostly the chronic glaucoma has no warning signs. About half of Americans don’t even know that they have 

chronic glaucoma. Glaucoma damages your peripheral vision but by the time you notice it, permanent damage 

has been occurred. Other signs include headaches, blurred vision, difficulty adapting to darkness, or haloes 

around lights. Chronic glaucoma normally develops after age 35.

Chronic narrow-angle glaucoma, like open-angle glaucoma, can be symptom less until vision loss occurs. Acute 

angle-closure glaucoma is a medical emergency. If the high pressure is not reduced within hours, it can 

permanently damage vision. Anyone who experiences its symptoms should immediately contact an 

ophthalmologist or go to a hospital emergency room. It's difficult to spot signs for congenital glaucoma because 

the children are too young to understand. If you notice a cloudy, white, hazy, enlarged or protruding eye, consult 

your eye doctor. Congenital glaucoma occurs more in boys than girls.

That is why it is very important to have a comprehensive eye exam at least once a year