5 things you're doing every day that could be hurting your eyesight

Your eyes are precious, but people often take them for granted.

Even those with perfect vision should visit an eye doctor regularly to get checked for common eye diseases, such as glaucoma and macular degeneration.

To take care of your eyes, it's important to visit an eye specialist regularly, wear sunglasses, avoid smoking, and eat healthy vegetables.

Luckily, staring at a screen all day won't damage your eyes permanently, but it can cause strain on the visual system.

Here are five common ways people hurt their eyes every day, and how to avoid them.

We know we shouldn't look directly at the sun, because it can cause serious eye damage even after a few seconds, according to Healthline. But there are plenty of other everyday habits that can hurt our eyes over time.

Business Insider spoke with Christopher J. Quinn, O.D., president of the American Optometric Association, to get some insight into how we may be damaging our eyes without even realizing it.

Even if you think your vision seems fine, these five things could be hurting your eyesight:

1. Staring at screens for too long
Looking at screens for too long can cause stress in the visual system. Samuel Borges Photography /Shutterstock
In a single day, think of all the screens you may encounter — your smartphone, GPS, computer, TV, tablet, and more.

Fortunately, all those hours of screen time probably aren't causing physical damage to your eyes, according to Christopher Quinn, president of the American Optometric Association. However, looking at screens for too long can cause stress in the visual system.

"That stress can result in eye strain, headaches, difficulty with focusing — a number of things that can impact quality of life overall," Quinn told Business Insider.

It's probably impossible to avoid screens all together. Instead, Quinn suggests practicing the 20-20-20 rule, which calls for you to look away from the screen every 20 minutes for at least 20 seconds and look instead at an object that's at least 20 feet away. It gives you an opportunity to refresh your eyes, he said.

2. Not wearing sunglasses
Exposure to UV rays over time can lead to cataracts and macular degeneration. WAYHOME studio/Shutterstock
Whether the sky is sunny or overcast, the sun's harmful rays can still impact our eyes. You don't have to stare directly at the sun to experience damage. In fact, sun exposure over time can lead to cataracts and macular degeneration, which is a leading cause of vision loss in older adults, Quinn said.

Sunglasses can help protect against that damage, but it's important to wear ones that protect against ultraviolet (UV) light, according to the National Eye Institute.

"UV light-absorbing sunglasses mitigate that risk substantially," Quinn said. "Normally, high-quality sunglasses will filter 95% or more of the harmful rays of the sun."

3. Smoking cigarettes
Smoking cigarettes can negatively affect eye health (among many other things). fongbeerredhot/shutterstock
Aside from increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer, smoking cigarettes can also affect eye health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Just like sun exposure, smoking can increase the risk of cataracts and macular degeneration.

4. Not eating your veggies
Eating plenty of vegetables is good for your eyes. Matej Kastelic/Shutterstock.com
A diet rich in vegetables can help maintain the health of certain parts of the eye.

"Essential antioxidants and vitamins can have a protective effect on the health of the retina — the light sensitive tissue which lines the back wall of the eye," Quinn said.

In particular, he said leafy green vegetables like kale and spinach may help provide that effect.

However, the common belief that eating carrots helps improve your night-time vision is actually a myth dating back to British propaganda from World War II. Although the orange veggie is good for eye health, it doesn't give you any sort of super power.

5. Avoiding the eye doctor
Annual eye exams are useful for almost everyone. Image Point Fr/Shutterstock
Even if don't have problems with your vision, getting an annual eye exam is still important for a number of reasons.

First, progressive damage to your eyes can happen without you noticing or feeling it. For example, about half of people with glaucoma — a group of diseases that impact the optic nerve — aren't aware they have it, according to the CDC. That's because there are often no symptoms, especially in early stages.

Additionally, during an exam, an eye doctor may find signs of other health problems.

"They can identify not just things that impact the eye, but also a host of systemic diseases, like diabetes and hypertension, which can have manifestations in the eye before the disease becomes really clinically apparent to the patient," Quinn said.

Source: http://www.thisisinsider.com/eye-health-tips-to-avoid-hurting-your-eyes-2018-5

That number 3? Sorry man, I can see clearly and my sight is clearer than yours.


BTW.... You are the OP and you still they drag ftc, you are not different from our polithieficians cos you are greedy as all of them .

Cc Lalastic Seun pls start sanction people like this

checkolatunji:
That number 3? Sorry man, I can see clearly and my sight is clearer than yours.


BTW.... You are the OP and you still they drag ftc, you are not different from our polithieficians cos you are greedy as all of them .

Cc Lalastic Seun pls start sanction people like this

Who is saying u are blind, I make the post, So if u dnt have something good to say please just shut ur gob. Wazzock claiming stupidity, FTC they pay money or what. Arrant balderdash. Shioor

checkolatunji:
That number 3? Sorry man, I can see clearly and my sight is clearer than yours.


BTW.... You are the OP and you still they drag ftc, you are not different from our polithieficians cos you are greedy as all of them .

Cc Lalastic Seun pls start sanction people like this

So u are proud to be a smoker, Right. Okay, You will soon know what the post is trying to narrate to us. Happy Smoking.

instead of staring at screen we should instead sightseeing the moon like those popular pipu dem

SexTin:
So u are proud to be a smoker, Right. Okay, You will soon know what the post is trying to narrate to us. Happy Smoking.

My bro, so proud to be a smoker. Infact, I av been smoking since 1994 and I am sure my lungs go don black pass chacoal like this but guess what? I no mind.

Thank you

SexTin:
Who is saying u are blind, I make the post, So if u dnt have something good to say please just shut ur gob. Wazzock claiming stupidity, FTC they pay money or what. Arrant balderdash. Shioor

Why are you showing to the all fams that you are stupid? Sha no vex if you vex

checkolatunji:


My bro, so proud to be a smoker. Infact, I av been smoking since 1994 and I am sure my lungs go don black pass chacoal like this but guess what? I no mind.

Thank you

Blessed is the smoker... Everyone has his/her own, So, No problem

SexTin:
Blessed is the smoker... Everyone has his/her own, So, No problem

One love brother.... Saves

checkolatunji:
That number 3? Sorry man, I can see clearly and my sight is clearer than yours.


BTW.... You are the OP and you still they drag ftc, you are not different from our polithieficians cos you are greedy as all of them .

Cc Lalastic Seun pls start sanction people like this

No seriously. That no 3 is a big deal. Smoking nearly triples the risk of developing Macular degeneration.