The world will celebrate National Eye Health Week from Monday to Sept. 22, which begs the question: When’s the last time you had your eyes examined by a trained eye care professional?

There are several ways to care for your eyes:

• Your diet can affect your vision. Antioxidants can help prevent retinal damage, so make sure items such as kale, spinach, broccoli, corn, carrots, sweet peppers, oranges, salmon, tuna, mackerel and eggs are part of your meal menu.

• A lack of exercise contributes significantly to several eye conditions, particularly among senior citizens. Exercise helps reduce the risk of sight loss from narrowing or hardening of the arteries, high blood pressure and diabetes.

• Excessive alcohol consumption and smoking can also lead to serious health conditions which can have a negative effect on your eye health.

• Protecting your eyes from the sun is also very important. Select sunglasses that offer proper protection from the sun’s ultraviolet rays.

• Individuals of Asian, African or Caribbean descent, or people over 40, should go for an eye exam at least every two years as they are more at risk of developing eye disease.

• Some eye conditions, such as glaucoma, can run in families. It’s important to review your eye health and overall health with family members.

• If you wear contact lenses, make sure you take proper care of them. Thoroughly wash and dry your hands before touching your contact lenses or your eyes, and only clean your contact lenses using the solution recommended by your optometrist.

• Protect your eyes if you work with hazardous or airborne materials at work or home, or participate in sports.

These tips were provided by Tomasik Optical.

Sources:

1. Buffalo News:
   National Eye Health Week.