Want 20:20 vision? Then 2025 is the time to protect your eyes
As we start the new year, many of us are focusing on diet, exercise, healthy living and our general wellbeing. But did you know that these healthy habits can also benefit our eyes?
Sight is considered the most vital sense by most people so it’s important to do all we can to ensure our vision is as good as possible, and vitally that we keep check on the health of our eyes, to detect any issues early.
Mr Amir Hamid, Chief Medical Officer and ophthalmic surgeon from Optegra Eye Health Care, which has a hospital in Birmingham, offers the following tips to help you take care of your eyes over the coming year:
- New year is often a time to review what we eat and drink. The good news for our vision is that we can eat well to see well - a balanced diet with plenty of coloured vegetables and oily fish can really benefit eye health. The antioxidant properties of Vitamin C, found in peppers, tomatoes and strawberries, can delay the onset of cataract and age-related macular degeneration, whilst salmon contains Omega-3 which can help prevent dry eyes.
- If one of your New Year resolutions is to get fitter then that’s great news for your eyes as staying active can also help your vision. Low impact exercise can help to reduce eye pressure, which is a major factor in glaucoma, and exercise helps to relax our facial muscles and reduce eye strain. Remember to wear protective eye wear when playing fast racquet sports – especially badminton and squash!
- We are all relying on tech much more – and while it has so many advantages to make life easier, it can be detrimental to our eyes. Staring too long at screens, we tend to forget to blink as often as we should, which can cause dry eyes and irritation. Even eye strain.
- To manage this, take regular breaks from screens, especially mobile phones and computers. It is best to use the 20-20-20 technique – every 20 minutes, look 20 feet into the distance for 20 seconds – to help your eyes adjust and re-focus.
- Book regular eye health checks, the NHS recommends every two years. If it has been a while, book yourself in with your local optician – this is one of the most important steps you can take.
Not only can your optician help you ensure you can see as well as possible – perhaps with the support of glasses, contact lenses, or vision correction treatment – but essentially, the eye test checks the health of your eye.
Many sight-threatening conditions, such as glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration, have no symptoms in their earliest stages. And yet the best chance of successful treatment, to save sight is to start treatment as quickly as possible. The eye test will check the back of the eye and help detect these conditions early.
Take note of any changes in your vision. Cataract, which affects one in three adults, for example, can make colours appear faded, can cause blurry vision and many people notice glare from bright lights when driving. There is only one option for treatment, which is to have the cataract removed in a fast and pain-free procedure, where the clouded lens – which is mainly caused by ageing – is replaced with a synthetic lens. The op is life-changing as it restores bright, clear vision so speak to your local optician if you notice any of these symptoms.
Optegra Eye Health Care is a specialist provider of ophthalmic services. Established in 2007, it has completed over one million eye procedures from its 41 eye hospitals and clinics across the UK, Czech Republic, Poland and Holland.
Optegra brings together leading-edge research, medical expertise and state-of-the-art surgical equipment. It performs more than 100,000 treatments annually, both private and publicly funded. Its top ophthalmic surgeons are renowned for their areas of expertise, offering excellent clinical outcomes and great patient service.
