5 myths about eye health and the real facts behind them

Your eyes are an important part of your health. There are many things you can do to keep them healthy and make sure you are seeing your best. However, there are a number of myths regarding what you should do and what you shouldn't do when it comes to maintaining good eye health.

Here are 5 of those myths busted:

Myth #1: reading in dim light and sitting too close to the tv hurts your eyes

Fact: sitting too close to the tv, you may feel eye strain or get a headache from reading in the dark, but it will not weaken your eyes. It fatigues your eyes but does not harm your eye health in any way.

Myth #2: eating carrots will improve your vision

Fact: carrots are rich in vitamin a, a nutrient essential for good vision. But eating carrots will only provide a small amount of vitamin a. To get the optimum amount, you need to include other sources of vitamin a in your diet as well, some of which are milk, cheese, egg yolk and liver. Spinach is best for eye health. It has lutein and zeaxanthin, both of which can help prevent cataracts.

Myth #3: if you wear glasses or contacts for a continuous period, your eyes will weaken

Fact: your eyes will not grow weaker by using corrective lenses. The prescription may change over time due to aging or absence of disease but it has nothing to do with your current prescription. Some children have correctable eye problems that do require glasses to improve the condition.

Myth #4: when you get something in your eye, rub it out

Fact: this is not true for everything that gets in your eyes. If any particle falls in your eyes dust it off. But if it is sand and small debris that gets in your eye, don't touch it. Use an eye wash for flushing it out. If an object gets stuck in your eye, don't remove it or rub your eye constantly. Visit a doctor at the earliest because some serious injuries may seem minor at first.

Myth #5: dark sunglasses can protect your eyes from the sun

Fact: the color of sunglass does not ensure eye protection. Look for sunglasses that block both uva and UVB rays. Exposure to the UV-rays of sunlight can have cumulative effects on your eyes. It increases your risk for cataracts, solar retinitis, and age-related vision loss. Even if your contacts have UV protection, wear sunglasses that block 100% of uva and UVB rays for full protection.

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Related Tip: Here's What CRYING Does to Your Body

Sitting Too Close To TV Will Weaken Your Eyes? FALSE.

78% of urban youth are in front of the computer screen/ mobile screen for about 12 hours a day. Such extensive strain to the eyes can have long term effects on vision.  Act now to protect your eyes by following these tips-

1) Ensure appropriate glasses or contact lens prescription which is also adequate for computer use. 
2) For prolonged exposure, use glasses to help with contrast, glare, and eye strain when using a computer.
3) Adjust your computer such that your eyes are level with the top of the monitor. This allows you to look slightly down at the screen.
4) Avoid any glare on your computer from windows or lights. Use an anti-glare screen if required.
5) Choose a comfortable, supportive chair. Position it so that your feet are flat on the floor.
6) If your eyes feel dry, blink more often.
7) Every 20 minutes, rest your eyes by looking 20 feet away for 20 seconds. At least every 2 hours, get up and take a 15-minute break.

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Protect Your Eyes While Working. 7 best ways.

During summer you try to take special care about the overall health of your body, particularly, your eyes. Eyes are one of the most important organs of the body, and the scorching summer heat can cause serious eye problems like conjunctivitis, infections, red eye, migraines etc., which is why it's important to take proper care of eyes during the summer season.

Here are some tips to keep your eyes cool and protected during the summer:

- Wearing sunglasses is very important when you are outdoors as it protects your eyes from the harmful UVA and UVB light. This will help in avoiding migraines and even serious conditions like cataract.
- Avoid midday sunshine. Stay indoors as much as possible during the middle of the day to avoid the sunshine then when the effect of the sun and ultraviolet radiation exposure are at their peak.
- When you plan to go for a swim, make sure you wear your swimming goggles. Otherwise you might catch conjunctivitis.
- You should not splash water into the eyes directly unless any foreign particles such as dust enter your eyes. This might damage the tear film of the eye, which protects your eyes.
- You need to maintain proper hygiene by washing your hands and face properly as soon as you reach home so that dust or grime does not enter the eyes as their entry can result in allergies and infections.
- You can keep a slice of cucumber on each of your eyes to relax and cool them down.
- 6 to 8 hours of sleep are a must as they help in revitalizing your eyes.
- Adding green vegetables, carrots, nuts, liver and fruits to your diet would be very beneficial for the health of your eyes.



8 Tips to Keep Your Eyes Cool in Summers

Sunglasses are an important part of the accessories you use in summer or any time of the year. They help you to look fashionable and stylish and also make a pretty good style statement. But is that the only job of sunglasses? Or do they have something more to them? Here are a few reasons why sunglasses are more than just a style statement:


1. Decrease in eye problems: Generally, you use sunscreen to protect your skin from the Sun s glare. Similarly, sunglasses protect your eyes from the harmful UV rays of the sun. It is extremely important for you to protect the eyes so that the harmful UV rays cannot enter the sensitive eye tissue and harm them. If you do not use sunglasses, then you have a higher chance of damaging your eye tissue than a person who uses them regularly. Bear in mind that the strong UV rays can cause serious permanent damage to your eyes.


2. Protection from other environmental components: Not only is the sun harmful to your eyes, but also the wind can be extremely dangerous for them. Dirt, sand, dust particles can fly into your eyes even when just a breeze is blowing. On a windy day, damage can be much more. If you are wearing sunglasses when out on a windy day, they act like a shield to your eyes against the wind and the particles,which might enter your eye.


3.  Helps clear vision: It s often difficult to have a clear vision when out in the Sun. The bright sunlight doesn t give you the clarity in vision. Without protection, you will have reduced vision as the bright glare of the Sun might cause you discomfort in your eyes and limit your vision as you will have to squint in the bright light.


4. Helps prevent aging: Although it might sound a bit surprising, but wearing sunglasses actually helps in prevent aging. The bright glare of the sun causes you to squint and this causes the age lines to appear. So, if you wear sunglasses and your eyes are protected from the bright sunlight, then you will not be squinting anymore, and hence it will not cause the age lines to appear before time.


So now, before you think that sunglasses only make you look good, think again about how they actually do much more than that.

4 Reasons Why Sunglasses are More than Just a Style Statement

4 effective tips for improving your eyesight

You'd be shocked to know that 1/3rd of the blind people of the world are Indians, which amounts to about 15 million people in India alone. Moreover, the risk of cataract is also high in India, with about 3 million people developing this condition, annually. Even the number of people with power in their eyes in India has gone up considerably. Thus, proper eye care is the need of the hour.

Here are some useful tips to maintain your eyesight, while improving your overall eye health.

1. Ensure that your eyes remain hydrated
You can do so by drinking the standard 8-10 glasses of water a day. Moreover, opting for a pair of sunglasses having a UV filter also proves to be useful in this regard. The reason behind is that sunglasses prevent the wind from robbing the moisture away from your eyes. Alternatively, you can ask an optometrist to prescribe a simple saline solution to hydrate your eyes and give them a soothing feel.

2. Don't keep looking at the computer screen continuously
Staring at the computer screen for a long time at a stretch can affect your eyes negatively. So, implement the 20/20/20 rule into your daily routine. According to this rule, you should remove your gaze from the computer screen every 20 minutes and then direct your vision towards an object kept at a distance of 20 feet for 20 seconds. This break helps your eyes to relax and refocus, consequently avoiding the occurrence of blurry vision.

3. Give your body a balanced diet and correct amount of sleep
Ensure that your daily diet contains green, leafy vegetables and fruits and food rich in antioxidants. These food products help in improving your vision to a large extent. Moreover, sleep for around eight hours every night to prevent eyestrain.

4. Make it a daily habit to perform eye exercises
The most effective technique to naturally improve your eyesight is performing eye exercises. Regular eye exercises not only enhance your vision but also give strength to your eyes.

Here's a simple exercise you can try. This works by applying heat to your eyes in order to relax them. For this, you can rub your palms together till they become warm and then place them on your eyes. Let your palms remain there for 10 seconds and then open your eyes.

It is also very important that you take care of your existing health problems like diabetes, hypertension, neurological problems or allergies and be regular with exercising such that it keeps your body fit and does not bear any impact on other organs like eyes.

If you would like to consult with me privately, please click on 'consult'.
Related Tip: 7 Easy Ways to Get Relief from EveryDay Computer Eye Strain

Why India Has POOREST Eyesight? + 4 Tips for Improving Your Eyesight

10 surprising facts about your eyes

You never tend to pay a lot of attention to your eyes unless they are affected by some serious disorder or unless your vision is disrupted. But did you know that your eyes are capable of doing much more than you can imagine? here are 10 surprising facts about your eyes you didn't know about.

1. How intricate!

Your eyes take more than 2 million working parts to function. No wonder your eyes are the second most complex organ of your body after your brain.

2. A lot depends on them

As much as 80% of your memories are determined by what you see. Also, 80% of what you learn is because of your eyes.

3. Retina and security

The iris of your eyes has approximately 256 unique characteristics, which is more than even your fingerprints. This is the reason why retina scans are used so widely today for security purposes.

4. It's a colourful world

Your eyes can distinguish between approximately 10 million different colours. And women with a particular kind of genetic mutation can see millions of more colours.

5. Upside-down

The retina of your eyes receives the vision of the outside world as upside down. It is your brain, which flips the image for you so that you can see the world as it is.

6. Sunscreen for the eyes?

It is possible for your eyes to get sunburnt. Therefore, it is advisable for you to wear sunglasses in order to protect your eyes from the ultraviolet radiations.

7. Godspeed!

The eye muscle is the muscle that reacts at the fastest rate out of all the other muscles in your body. It can contract in less than even 1/100th of a second.

8. Paint it red?

The retina of your eyes cannot detect the red colour. The retinas do have green, red and blue receptors, but the red receptor can detect only the colour yellow-green and the green one can recognise blue-green. It is your brain that combines these signals to give you the impression of the colour red.

9. Dreams and sight

Even if you become blind later in life, you can see images in your dreams if you were born with sight.

10. We are blink-eyed peas

You blink approximately 17 times every minute. That makes it 5.2 million times in a year.

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Related Tip: Sitting Too Close To TV Will Weaken Your Eyes? FALSE.

Surprise Yourself with these 10 Facts about Your EYES!

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