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Healthy eyes are essential to your well-being and quality of life. You may not be thinking about it, but now is the time to be proactive about your eye health, and make sure that you’re not doing anything that could come back to hurt you later in life. We want you to have the best eyesight possible, so we’re bringing you some tips for keeping your vision safe and healthy this summer.
Sunglasses
When it comes to sunglasses, you may not want to skimp on your purchase. That doesn’t mean you need $200 Italian-made lenses, but you might not want to get them at the gas station either. You want to make sure that your sunglasses have the proper UV protection for summer. If your sunglasses don’t have UV protection, all you’re doing is allowing your pupils to dilate and let in UV rays. Too much UV light will accelerate the growth of cataracts, causing them to appear eight to ten years earlier in some cases. That’s a lot of time with cataracts that could have been prevented with proper eye protection.
That means getting proper protection for your little ones, as well. Their eyesight is actually more sensitive than an adult’s, so it’s important to protect their eyes starting from a young age.
Outdoor Safety
Summer is a good time to get out and finish projects around the house, and you’ll certainly be mowing and weed whacking at some point this season. Anytime you’re doing work with objects that could potentially fly around, you should be wearing heavy duty goggles. Your regular eyeglasses don’t cut it if a rock or anything solid pops up and hits them. In fact, the lacerations from broken eyeglasses can be just as dangerous.
Sports Safety
Most sports leagues require some type of protection for your eyes if there is a substantial risk of injury, but as you get older, leagues usually cut down on the required gear. Do yourself a favor and continue wearing helmets and eye protection when you’re playing sports this summer. Paintball is an especially dangerous sport, and while commercial fields require eye protection, many people injure themselves playing at home without the proper gear.
Fireworks
Please, please, be careful if you must use fireworks. We would tell you to simply leave them alone, but millions of people use them every Fourth of July weekend. There are roughly 2,000 eye injuries from fireworks every year according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Your best bet is to leave the shows to the professionals, but always wear heavy-duty eye protection if you are going to be using fireworks at home.
Summer is the perfect time to get out and enjoy the weather and your favorite outdoor activities, but you have to be careful if you want your great vision to last into old age. And if you don’t already have great vision, have you thought about LASIK surgery? OCLI has helped so many people just like you, so why not schedule a consultation today?
