5 Ways to Abuse Your Vision   

Just like the rest of your body, your vision needs to be cared for. Because people don’t think about their vision everyday, it sometimes gets taken for granted. The worst ways to abuse your vision include the following.

Not Getting Regular Eye Exams

An eye exam in Coldwater, MS is about more than making sure you have good vision. During the exam, your eye doctor assesses the health of your eyes, checking for any potential problems such as diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and more. When you fail to get regular eye exams—at least once every year—you miss the opportunity for your eye doctor to catch eye disease before it has a chance to develop to a point where your vision is in danger.

Not Wearing Sunglasses

Chronic exposure to UV light damage vision over time. If you spend a lot of time outdoors – gardening, engaging in sports, etc. – you should wear UV-rated sunglasses. Even driving without sunglasses can harm your vision, if there is a lot of glare from the sun. Macular degeneration, cornea damage and cataracts have all been linked to chronic UV exposure.

Not Wearing Sports Goggles

The amount of vision loss related to sports injuries may surprise you. Every day, people insure sports eye injuries that could have easily been prevented just by slipping on a pair of sports goggles before play. Sports goggles help prevent injuries from stray hockey sticks, flying golf balls, fast pitches gone awry, bodily impact and much more.

Reading in Poor Light

Eye strain isn’t just an abstract concept; it’s a very real condition that can impact the health of your eyes. Whenever you feel eye strain, take steps to alleviate it. Either stop what you’re doing for a while, adjust the lighting in the room or look away from the book or screen and focus instead on something in the distance.

Not Wearing Goggles During Hazardous Activities

Another time when goggles should be worn is during activities with the potential for eye injury. This includes woodworking, when wood chips could fly into the eyes, mowing the lawn, when unexpected debris could come flying up, and working with caustic or chemical liquids, when a stray splash could get into the eyes.

The best way to protect your vision is to take some simple protective measures and, of course, to see your Coldwater, MS eye doctor at least once a year.