New Year, new you. That’s the promise of every January. But if you want to make 2023 your best year yet, you’ll need to make sure that your body is healthy and ready for all the challenges that come with it. And part of maintaining good health is making sure your eyes are taken care of as well.
Read on as a Fort Worth, TX optometrist lists some things you can do every day to keep your eyes healthy in the new year.
Get an Eye Test
If you want to keep your eyes healthy and clear, there are a few simple steps you can take. One of those is to get an eye test every year.
Here are just a few ways yearly eye exams can help protect your vision:
- Annual eye exams can detect health problems early on.
- Exams can help identify risk factors for glaucoma and other diseases that affect the eyes.
- Eye doctors can prescribe treatments that may prevent or slow down vision loss in people with certain conditions.
Wear Sunglasses
For the most part, sunglasses are a fashion accessory, but they can do so much more than that! Not only do they protect your eyes from UV rays, but they also help reduce glare and improve depth perception.
Quit Smoking and Moderate Drinking
Smoking is a major cause of blindness due to conditions like cataracts and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). It can also lead to dry eyes, which can cause redness, irritation, and infection. Smoking cigarettes also causes inflammation in your body and increases the likelihood that you’ll develop macular degeneration as well as other eye conditions like cataracts or dry eyes.
Alcohol consumption damages optic nerve fibers, which reduces blood flow to the retina (the light-sensitive tissue lining the back wall inside your eye). These conditions can result in poor night vision and a decreased ability to drive at night.
Eat Healthy Foods
A healthy diet is one of the most important things you can do to maintain good eye health. It’s been shown that people who eat a lot of fruits and vegetables have a lower risk of developing cataracts, which are common in older adults. In addition to eating more produce, avoid high-fat foods like fried chicken or chips, which can increase your risk of developing glaucoma.
If you have more questions or wish to schedule an eye exam for the new year, please don’t hesitate to call us, your local Fort Worth, TX optometrist office today!
