Held every March, Save Your Vision Month is a great opportunity to learn more about protecting your eye health.
Approximately 12 million people aged 40 and over have some form of vision impairment that prevents them from seeing as well as they should. About 1 million American adults are blind, and 3 million still have vision impairment even after correction with glasses, contacts, or other treatments. Another 8 million people have uncorrected refractive errors, such as nearsightedness (myopia) and farsightedness associated with age (presbyopia).
Many types of vision impairment are preventable. During Save Your Vision Month, eye care professionals share ideas on ways to reduce the risk of preventable eye diseases and injuries.
5 Ways to Save Your Vision
1. Protect your eyes from injury while at work and while at play
Each day, about 2,000 workers in the U.S. sustain job-related eye injuries requiring medical treatment. Wearing eye protection, such as safety frames and sports eyewear, can prevent 90 percent of these injuries or lessen their severity.
2. Eat a nutritious diet
Some foods contain the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin, which can help prevent AMD and cataracts. These foods include eggs, carrots, leafy green vegetables, red and yellow peppers, tomatoes, and sweet corn.
3. Wear sunglasses
Sunglasses can protect your eyes from harmful solar radiation from the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays. For maximum protection against vision loss, make sure the sunglasses block at least 99% of both UV-A and UV-B rays.
4. Clean your contacts
Wearing contacts can increase your risk for keratitis, which is an infection of the clear outer cornea covering the front of your eye. Contacts can also increase your risk for pinkeye, also known as conjunctivitis. Improper cleaning and care of your contacts can increase your risk for eye infections.
5. See an eye doctor
Save Your Vision Month is the perfect time to schedule your annual eye exam. Your eye doctor will screen for vision-robbing eye problems, such as glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and cataracts. Your eye care professional can also prescribe glasses, contacts, or other treatments to improve your vision.
Check out our website for further information on the full range of eye care services we provide or call us to schedule an appointment today (309) 243-2400. We also offer same-day walk-in visits for urgent and acute eye care services at our Peoria office.