To help maintain sharp vision, here are seven things you should avoid doing with your eyes–‘see’ what you need to do to keep your eyes healthy for a lifetime.
It’s clear to see that taking care of your eyes is essential. After all, they’re critical for communication, and how else are you supposed to judge a book by its cover? (Kidding, kidding).
Keeping your eyes healthy calls for more than an annual checkup at your optometrist, however. Simple things like forgetting to wear sunglasses on a sunny day, or sleeping with makeup on, can create problems for your eyes over time.
To help maintain sharp vision, here are seven things you should avoid doing with your eyes – ‘see’ what you need to ditch in order to keep those eyes healthy for a lifetime.
Sleeping with Contacts
Contacts block oxygen from entering your corneas, which can lead to infections and corneal ulcers. This applies to both regular contacts, and even the ‘overnight wear’ variety.
Sleep sans contacts if you’re snoozing for any longer than a brief nap.
Dodging Eye Exams
It’s important to have your eyes checked annually. These examinations allow eye doctors to regularly check for abnormalities in your eyes, like a broken blood vessel or tumor, which are very difficult to detect on your own.
Applying Liner to Your Waterline
Even for the sake of vanity, eye damage isn’t worth it. Applying eyeliner to your lower lashes poses risks, as the makeup can mix with your tears, thereby transferring bacteria into your eyes. For contact users, the lens’ can be coated with those same particles, too.
For extra safety, stick to eyeliner on the outside eyelash line exclusively.
Related: Forget About Carrots – Oranges are the Best for Your Eyes
Wearing Makeup to Bed
One of the most common oversights in eye care, sleeping in eye makeup is one of the worst habits for eyes. Makeup can clog the glands around your eyes, increasing the risks of skin irritation, pimples, and styes. Make sure that makeup remover becomes a staple in your nightly regimen.
Careless Products
Cleaning solutions, contact lenses, and eye drops that are past their expiry date are simply ineffective.
Always ensure your eye products are still good for use, especially when it comes to contact lenses; they tend to break down in the sterile solutions they reside in.
Overdoing Drops
Eye drops are a temporary solution to reducing redness in eyes by shrinking blood vessels – but there’s a catch.
They have a ‘rebound effect’ – or, will make your eye redness worse over the long-term. Chronic red eyes mean you should see a doctor for a more sustainable treatment, rather than this quick-fix Band-Aid.
Related: Are 3D Digital Images Bad for Your Eyes?
Ditching Sunglasses (Even in the Winter)
That’s right, the sun’s UV rays can even do damage in the cold.
Keep your sunglasses handy year-round as a twelve-month safeguard against corneal burns, skin cancer on the eyelids, cataracts, and macular degeneration. For optimal protection, go for shades that block 99-100% of all UVA and UVB rays.
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