What you should know about the eyes?

Author: ReFocus | Category:

1. Contrary to popular perception, use of computers does not directly impair the eyes.

The use of computers does not actually damage the eye tissue pathologically. But in the long term, looking at the computer screen stresses the eyes by making them tired and temporarily blurs vision. Therefore, giving the eyes a break from time to time is recommended, for example, looking into the distance every 20 minutes for 2-5 minutes or closing the eyes to moisten them with natural tears.

2. Wearing glasses does not make your vision worse.

It is a fairly common myth that wearing glasses makes eyesight worse. The only thing that happens is that you see more clearly with glasses. But how often is a new prescription required for glasses? This depends on your age. The older the person, the less frequently it is necessary to change the strength of glasses for seeing into the distance. Teenagers and young adults should go for vision checks every year and older people every 1-2 years. The signs which indicate that you need new glasses are difficulties reading and seeing road signs, blurry vision and headaches.

3. Eye colour depends on the amount of pigment in the iris.

The posterior surface of the iris is brown for everyone. Depending on the pigment in the anterior iris, eye colour could be blue, green, or brown. It is completely normal if the eye colour changes as we age. It is necessary to visit the eye doctor if the colour of only one eye changes or the eye colour is significantly different between the eyes because this can suggest an eye disease. People with light eyes have a somewhat higher risk for macular degeneration. People with darker eyes have a greater risk of glaucoma.

4. Spending leisure time outdoors reduces the risk for short-sightedness.

Even though reading is associated with short-sightedness among children, it has also been revealed that outdoor leisure time reduces the risk of short-sightedness. Therefore, children should go outside to play after reading or computer work. Scientists have speculated that this is due to the intensity of light, which is higher outdoors than indoors. Due to this, more of the chemical substance dopamine is released in the retina, which in turn prevents the growth of the length of the eye. The second factor is considered to be vitamin D because its development is dependent on sunlight and it is considered to be useful for eye health and vision.

5. Similar to the skin, the eyes become drier in the winter.

If you feel discomfort, redness or irritation in the eyes, it is usually caused by eye dryness during colder weather. The amount of tears on the surface of the eyes depends on evaporation and production of tears. When air is drier and warmer indoors in the winter, evaporation is faster. It is recommended to use room humidifiers and artificial tears and drink more water in the winter.

6. It is not recommended to sleep with contact lenses.

Do not fall asleep with contact lenses even if the packaging allows it. This increases the risk of complications and infections, which can compromise your eyesight. Proper hygiene is essential - hand washing before touching the contact lens, soaking the lenses in maintenance fluid overnight and using a clean lens case.

7. Makeup can cause eye injuries.

If you use mascara or treatments to make your eyelashes longer, be particularly careful. Many people visit ophthalmologists due to corneal injuries caused by a mascara wand. Sometimes make-up particles that are stuck on the eye’s surface are visible. This can happen if cells grow around the make-up particles. This problem is treated with antibiotic-containing eye drops.

8. Smoking may seriously harm your vision.

Smoking increases the risk of macular degeneration by more than 3 times; this is the main reason for loss of vision in Europeans and Americans. Smoking damages small blood vessels in the eye fundus and optical nerve.

9. The eyes can reveal other medical conditions.

The eyes may show signs of a large number of medical conditions, which the ophthalmologist sees during a routine eye check. The eyes can show signs of cardiac disease (unusual bifurcation or thickness/ width change of eye blood vessels); cancer or tumours (different size of pupils, drooping eyelids, eye tissue changes), thyroid problems (bulging eyes); HIV; auto-immune diseases (swelling and bleeding of the eye fundus, which usually occurs at a very late stage of the disease or when it is left untreated).

10. If we live long enough we all can develop cataracts and we may need eye surgery.

The lens of the eye is a transparent, but with age it becomes yellow or even grey. Sunglasses with UV-protection slow cataract progression, so it is advisable to wear them in sunny weather. Symptoms of cataracts are loss of visual acuity, development of short-sightedness and weakening of reading glasses. Fortunately, the risks of cataract surgery are very low and results are good. Moreover, if a multifocal lens is implanted during the cataract surgery, it is possible to get rid of both long sight and reading glasses.

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