Vision Care

Introduction
Our eyes are supposedly considered to be the mirror of our personality. They reflect the kind of person that we are and use expressions to communicate without words. They also help us to see the beautiful creations of God and add a distinct meaning to our life, everyday.

Often, we take a lot of care to make our eyes look beautiful and appealing to others. We use eye-shadows, eye-liners and various other eye make-up products to enhance the external appearance of our eyes. However, seldom do we remember about the basic health aspects of our eyes. Usually, most of us consider the gift of eye-sight as a natural phenomenon and tend to take it for granted. As a result, we forget to take care of our eyes and suffer from various consequences which sometimes lead to impaired vision or even permanent loss of eyesight.

Importance of Vision Care
It is only when we come across a blind person or face eye-problems ourselves; we start thinking of the importance of caring for our eyes. Generally, we think that eye problems are a part of the aging process and deal with them quite casually. It is indeed true that some eye problems occur with age; however, there have been and there are people who have enjoyed problem free vision and healthy eyes even at old age. This has been possible due to adequate care and measures taken and followed on a regular basis. Even if you are not facing any serious problem today, it is always good to imbibe some basic vision care practices, which would help you enjoy a bright and clear vision even at your old age.

Causes of Eye Problems
Excessive stressing of your eyes (reading, watching television, working in front of the computer), lack of proper diet, excessive smoking, obesity, too much exposure to the ultra-violet rays of the sun, diabetics, certain medications like steroids, hereditary problems and lack of adequate sleep and rest are some of the major reasons that lead to various eye problems.

How to take care of your Eyes
Taking care of your eyes is not a very complicated job. Here are some basic things that you can adhere to as a part of your vision care practice.

Avoid Excessive Stress
Try to take short breaks at a regular interval when you are working in front of the computer all through the day. Your work might demand you to sit with the computer but your eyes also need some rest in between. Similarly, avoid continuous reading or watching television for long hours.

Wash your Eyes Often
Splash cold water in your eyes whenever you are taking breaks from work. This will help your eyes relax and provide comfort from over-strain.

Eat Healthy
Your diet plays a significant role in controlling your eye problems and keeping them healthy. Eat lots of fresh fruits, carrots, spinach, almonds and green vegetables to ensure a healthy vision. A cup of broccoli everyday can keep a lot of your eye problems at bay. Consult your doctor to prepare a diet chart that would contain a lot of Vitamin A, C and E in your regular meals.

Blink your Eyes Often
It is good to blink your eyes as often as possible in order to keep them lubricated. Staring at the computer or television screen for a long time may cause dry eyes, which, in turn, lead to irritation, itching and heating of the eyes. Our eyes are naturally lubricated by the tears that are spread inside the surface of our eyes. Staring at the computer or television or keeping your eyelids wide open for a long time, thus, causes evaporation of the tears, leading to dry eye syndrome.

Protect your eyes from Over-Exposure to the UV Rays
Always wear sun-glasses or goggles with polarized lenses while you are going out in the sun. Over-exposure to the ultra-violet rays may affect your eye-sight and have serious after-effects at a later stage of your life.

Clean your Eyes
We all use various make-up products to make our eyes look beautiful and attractive. It is essential to remove all make-up from your eyes and wash them with cold water before you go to bed. This provides relief and comfort to the tired eyes. Make sure your eyes are completely clean and there is no make-up left.

Practice Eye Exercises
There are various simple eye exercises that ensure proper toning of the eye muscles and help prevent eye diseases. Consult your eye-specialist to know which exercises would suit your eyes best and start following them regularly. Regular exercises, for 15 to 20 minutes everyday, can be an effective way of improving your vision problems.

Give your Eyes Adequate Rest
Good sleep and adequate rest is directly related to basic vision care. A regular sound sleep of 7 to 8 hours provides the amount of rest and relaxation required for healthy eyes.

General Tips
Avoid using sharp objects and pressure in your eyes.

Be careful while using eye-drops, lotions and creams. If any of these are too old or
out-dated, they can be dangerous for your eyes.

In case you use contact lenses, avoid using them for more than 12 hours continuously.

Be careful while you are doing eye-exercises with your contact lenses on. Exercises may cause dislocation of the lenses and hurt your eyes.

A gentle massage from time to time can be very relaxing for your eyes. Placing cucumber pieces on your eyes for a few minutes before you go to bed also gives a refreshing feeling to the eyes and helps in preventing puffiness.

Avoid looking directly towards the sun.

Always place your monitor/television at a proper distance and position which is comfortable for your eyes.

Take your eyes away from the computer or television screen from time to time and re-focus on other objects for some seconds. A break of 15 minutes is considered to be ideal for every two hours that you have worked on computers.

Maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle to secure your overall health including, eyes.

Go for an eye-check up at regular intervals (yearly/half yearly), depending on your age and general health.

Those, who use spectacles or contact lenses, check your eye-power periodically to ensure that you are using lenses with the right power.

If any kind of problem persists, even after taking all the pre-cautions and safety measures, visit your eye-specialist immediately.

Try to protect your eyes from accidental injuries.

Conclusion
Caring for your eyes can be simple but very effective to reduce your eye problems. Therefore, let your eyes not just express your emotions and personality but also reflect a healthy body and soul. A little bit of care and consciousness on a regular basis can help you decrease a lot of financial, mental and physical agony caused due to eye-problems at a later stage.