7 Habits that Destroy Your Eyes
A lack of sleep, excessive screen time, and makeup misuse are some of the things that can cause problems for your eyes. If you want your eyes to be free of pain, discomfort, or vision loss, here are the lifestyle habits that you need to break today:
1. Having too much screen time
Work, school, and home: there is always a screen in front of us, whether it be our TV, computer, or smartphone.
Needless to say, having too much screen time can be detrimental to your eye health. When we’re looking at something on the screen, we don’t blink as often, which leads to eye dryness and itchiness. Moreover, staring too long at a source of brightness can lead to eye strain, which, in turn, can cause headaches, fatigue, and sleep problems.
However, staring at a screen is unavoidable for people who work in office settings. What you can do to avoid eye strain is to practice the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, look at something that is at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds. In addition to that, you can also consider taking eye care supplements.
2. Not bringing your glasses
Even if you don’t need to wear them all the time, always have your glasses with you. Otherwise, you will likely find yourself having to squint to look at something, which can lead to eye strain, headaches, double vision, and eye fatigue.
3. Rubbing your eyes
Avoid rubbing your eyes to relieve an itch or even just to take away sleepiness. Doing so can risk scratching your cornea, introducing bacteria to your eye, or breaking tiny blood vessels. Moreover, putting unnecessary pressure on your eyes can also exacerbate existing conditions, such as myopia and glaucoma.
If your eyes are itchy, resist the urge to rub and instead put a cold compress on your eyelids. If there is a foreign body in your eye, flush it out with clean water or remove it with a damp cotton swab.
4. Misusing makeup
Putting makeup too close to your lash line can transfer bacteria from the makeup to your eye. It can also block oil glands, which can lead to the accumulation of bacteria and cause irritation or infection.
Avoid applying makeup too close to the surface of your eye, and ensure that your makeup is clean and unexpired (do notshare makeup with others). Before going to sleep, remove your makeup completely and take special care to remove every bit of makeup from around your eyes. Otherwise, you could end up with an eye infection when you wake up.
5. Failing to wear eye protection
Always make sure you wear eye protection in these situations:
- Being out in the sun
- Grilling with contact lenses in
- Swimming
- Mowing the lawn
- Doing construction
- Painting
- Using chemicals
6. Mishandling contact lenses
If you wear contact lenses, you should know the proper way to use them. Never touch your contact lenses before you’ve washed and dried your hands with a clean cloth or tissue. Also, make sure to clean the contact lens case with solution and replace it every once in a while.
Sleeping with contact lenses is also a no-no. Contact lenses limit the oxygen supply to your eyes when you’re awake, which means that when you sleep with them on, your eyes have even less oxygen. And when your eyes are deprived of oxygen, they swell and create gaps in the cells, which can serve as an ideal habitat for bacteria in your eyes.
Always remove your contact lenses before going to sleep. If you accidentally fall asleep with them on, immediately flush your eyes with eye drops and wear glasses for a few days to give your eyes a rest.
7. Not getting enough sleep
If you are constantly sleep-deprived, your eye health is also affected on top of other things sleep deprivation can do to your body. Not getting enough sleep can lead to puffiness, swelling, dark circles, premature wrinkling, and dry eyes. You can also get involuntary eye spasms called myokymia, which can be annoying when you’re trying to do work or read during the day.
Did you tick off one or two habits from this list? If you want to have healthier eyes and prevent the exacerbation of your existing eye conditions, it’s high time to break these habits that are doing your eyes no good.
Do you have more eye care tips to share with us? Leave them in the comments below.
Tia, and TipsfromTia.com is trying to keep you looking good and
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