Your vision is probably one of the most important senses when it comes to your every day life. Just try to imagine a day without vision—pretty terrifying isn’t it? You want to keep your eyes intact and your vision sharp. Here are some tips to keep your vision the best it can be.
Eye injuries can cost more than
$300 million per year in lost production time, medical expenses, and worker’s compensation. Did you know that there are nearly 500,000 eye injuries in the United States? 40% of hospital visits for eye injuries are sports related, and
70% are caused by falling objects.
About half of all eye injury victims are under the age of 25, and 90% of all eye injuries can be prevented. With all of these factors in play, it’s important to know the steps you can take to ensure your eyes will be injury free.
There are plenty of things you can do at home to protect your vision that doesn’t involve any protective headgear. Home cleaning agents cause a majority of eye injuries; so make sure you keep all of these items locked up and out of reach of children.
When you’re mowing your lawn, make sure your children are far away. You wouldn’t want to run over a rock, have it slingshot out of the lawnmower, and into your son’s face. Keep in mind that paper clips, rubber bands, wire coat hangers, elastic cords and fishing hooks can all cause eye injury as well. Your computer could also do some damage to your eyes.
When using a computer, keep your screen within 20″-24″ of your eyes and make sure the top of your computer screen is slightly below eye level. Minimize the distance between your computer screen and any documents you need to reference while working. That way, your eyes won’t be adjusting as harshly. Be sure to take a break every 15 minutes to focus on a distant object, and blink frequently to ensure your vision stays healthy.
Your diet can also help improve the longevity of your vision. Omega-3 fatty acids, lutein, zinc, and vitamins C and E can help keep your vision stronger longer. Green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale, and collards are great for your eyes. Salmon, tuna, eggs, nuts, beans, oranges, and carrots are other eye friendly foods. If you’re a smoker you’re more likely to get cataracts, optic nerve damage, or macular degeneration. So here’s a tip, don’t smoke!
Probably one of the most important places to make sure you’re using proper eye protection is in high-risk work environments.
Safety glasses are an important part of any workplace. For example, if you’re working with any hazardous materials indoors you should use
clear safety glasses to ensure complete eye safety. You can wear these while working with lumber, batteries, or hazardous liquids. When working outside on a construction site, or manning a traffic redirection– there are safety glasses that also
provide UV protection, making working outside easier
(and safer) on your eyes.
Sports also play a big role in most eye injuries. More than
100,000 eye injuries in the United States each year are sports related. Every 13 minutes an emergency room in the U.S. treats a sports related injury. If you wear contact lenses, you should grab a pair of
sport frame safety glasses to give your eyes that added protection.
You should wear safety glasses if you’re involved in any activity where your eyes could be susceptible to injury. Safety glasses should be used
in extracurricular activities classified as high-risk. Air rifles, BB guns, baseball, basketball, boxing, cricket, fencing, hockey, lacrosse, full-contact martial arts, paintball, racquetball, softball, and squash are all high-risk levels of activity that could injure your eye. In fact, America’s favorite pastime, Baseball, is the leading cause of sports-related eye injury among children under the age of 14.
If you’re looking to do some shooting on the local range, make sure you pick up a pair of their
shooting glasses. They’ll protect your eye and you’ll see so well you’ll hit the bull’s-eye right on target! Not all safety glasses look bulky and goofy. The Traffic Safety Store sells
full frame safety glasses that look like your favorite pair of sunglasses.
Your vision is important. Make sure you eat the right foods, and wear the right protective gear. One wrong move, and you could loose your vision forever. Eyesight is a precious gift you don’t want to waste—so pick up a pair of safety glasses and get back to your daily routine in a safer way!
