Did you know? A minimum of 2.2 billion people experiences a near or distance vision impairment. Also, nearly half of eye problems can be prevented before extreme results or have causes that are yet to lack addressing.
With all the five senses of a human, eyesight is the most important. It is crucial to care for your eyes even in old age; besides, they are irreplaceable. One thing for sure is eye problems are usually a result of lifestyle and underlying health conditions.
For this reason, it is essential to keep your eyes healthy and keep a good routine at all times. This way, you will enjoy lasting eye health and maintain good vision. Before we look at how to care for the eyes, let’s understand how it works. Read on.
How the Eyes Work
The eye has ten general parts that all work together to maintain our vision every day. For that to happen, here’s the process;
First, light passes through the transparent front layer of the eye called the cornea. The cornea is curved hence refracts light to help the eye focus.
Not all the light enters the eye, but some of it gets in the eye through an averaged size opening called the pupil. On the other hand, the colored part of the iris regulates the amount of light the pupil allows to enter.
Subsequently, light passes through another clear but inner part of the eye called the lens. The lens collaborates with the cornea to direct the light correctly on the retina.
The retina is the tissue layer that is light-sensitive at the back of the eye. So, when light touches the retina, special cells called photoreceptors convert the light into electrical signals.
These electrical signals then move from the retina via the optic nerve to the brain. On reaching the brain, it turns the signs into the images you see before you. Also, note that the eyes need tears to work well.
How to Care For Your Eyes for Long-Term Benefits
Your eyes play a significant role in controlling how you enjoy your life. They help you move through the world from when you wake up until you fall asleep.
Therefore, imagine how the eyes end up tired from all the images you see at the end of the day. Preferably, it would be best to have an eye massage for eye strain after a long day outside and before you sleep.
What’s more?
Regular Checkups
It would be best to book frequent eye checkups with eye specialists whether you experience eye problems. This is because some eye problems may be present even without showing any noticeable signs.
When you go to an eye specialist, they will carry out eye examinations. The results of the tests will determine the proper eye treatment in case of any condition. Still, they can advise you on appropriate eye care even if you do not have a severe eye condition.
They are specialized to improve your vision by administering eyeglasses, contact lenses, eye exercises, and even medications.
It would be best if you visited your optometrist or ophthalmologist annually for an eye checkup. Still, see the specialist if you are experiencing;
- Loss or blurry vision
- Light flashes
- Eye pain
- Redness
- Itching
- Swelling
- Irritation around the eye or eyelid
Act To Prevent Disease
Without a doubt, some people are born blind, but the leading cause of blindness is an eye disease. Diseases that cause blindness like glaucoma and diabetes can have treatment or managed if the diagnosis is early and adequate.
Even though significant eye disorders have no cure, there have been critical medical innovations for cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. By going for regular exams and discussing your family history, you and your doctor will be better able to anticipate, prevent and treat eye disease.
Prescription Lenses or Corrective Surgery
Failing to wear your prescription glasses will cause you headaches, eye strain, discomfort, and even severe injury from blurry vision. Well, consistent headaches from eye strain and despair can lead to migraines and more pain.
However, some people find it uncomfortable to wear eyeglasses all the time. In this case, ask your doctor for a suitable alternative. Contact lenses or corrective surgery are the available alternatives that a doctor can prescribe according to your eye problem.
Protect Your Eyes from the Sun
Apart from the sun emitting ultraviolet (UV) rays, exposure to tanning beds, black-light lamps, and other direct forms of light can be harmful to your eyes.
Frequent exposure to UV rays can lead to the risk of cataracts or discolored spots on the white surface of the eye. Diseases like solar retinitis, corneal dystrophies, and macular degeneration are a result of UV exposure.
Usually, people taking particular medications or are light in color can experience more sensitivity in the eyes. The best approach to protect your eyes when you go out would be to wear UV-blocking contact lenses, prescription sunglasses, and clip-on sunglasses.
Wearing Protective Eyewear and Gear When Working
Like you would wear protective clothing in a garage, it would also help include protective goggles. Protecting your eyes when you are handling hazardous works is very crucial. This way, you will safeguard things jumping into your eyes to cause bruises, which can be severe. When working in a garden, you should protect your eyes from exposure to the chemicals you are spraying and the soil.
What Are the Barriers to Eye Care
Blindness in the developing world is usually curable; however, most patients lack immediate medical attention. Moreover, most people with eye problems like cataracts in many poverty-stricken countries have never sought eye care, while other seeking eye care have no previous records of eye care.
Subsequently, why do people lack to get eye care attention even when it is available? Usually, eye care awareness is not the primary reason for the barriers, but patients have personal issues that prevent them from seeking proper medical attention. Read on.
Cost
As expected, financial strain is the leading cause of patients not seeking eye care especially ophthalmic surgery. About 91% of patients with cataracts claimed that the cost of cataract surgery was too high hence hindering them from proceeding.
While eye care costs are not such a burden, hidden charges amplify the total cost to something unbearable. Even though most organizations claim to offer free cataracts eye care, the services can involve a cost burden to the patients and their families. Such hidden or unstated costs include food, transport, and accommodation for family members who will accompany the patients for surgery, not to mention the post-operation medications.
Fear of Doctors and Treatment
This is a common fear but prevalent in most patients. The fear of doctors and the unknown can make a patient avoid getting eye surgery.
Many patients express fear of the hospital environment, including the staff, resulting in their loss of pride and dignity. Most people do not know what involves eye surgery hence the fear of what the results may be.
The best approach to counter the doctors’ fear is by ensuring many successful surgeries to make the community have faith in the doctors.
Moreover, it is common for surgeries to entail some risk. With the thought of threats, there are inevitable poor outcomes that can make patients forego treatments. However, this fear comes from a lack of understanding of the procedure, hearsay of recent or decades ago poor outcomes. People would only get the news of cataract surgery from patients, family, or neighbors. From this information, the quality is distorted widely, with others taking the surgery to cause death.
Fatalism
Some cultural beliefs about medicine can impact the willingness of a patient to get medical help. Some cultures believe diseases to be a natural cause and not medical; thus, people are not likely to seek eye treatment, including surgery. Other patients take blindness as an inevitable result in old age hence lack to seek medical attention for any preventive measures.
Alternative Eye Care
In most rural areas, traditional or herbal eye care services draw patients from seeking medical attention, especially eye surgeries, thus offering alternative treatments. Of course, one would run away from the sound of eye surgery and take the alternative treatment option.
Also, the lack of enough eye care centers can lead to patients seeking traditional treatments. However, insufficient eye care clinics lack enough professionals to handle the problems, including carrying out surgeries with excellent results.
Generally, it would be best if people took the initiative of being actively involved in their eye care. This way, they should ensure proper eye health, including diets and routine checkups as observed above. Besides, the best way to eliminate any fear or misinformation about eye care is from an expert. This way, you know better by caring for your eyes the proper way. Besides, how are you going to care for yourself if you neglect your eyes? Undeniably, eyes help us survive in this world hence the windows to your soul and mind.
