One of the biggest concerns in eye health today is the phenomenal speed at which blindness is taking hold in our elderly compared to a few years ago. There have been a lot of studies back and forth surrounding why blindness is on the rise across the world and the biggest theories surround our widespread daily use of digital screens.

But are these digital screens the direct cause of the rise in blindness, do they present a problem for your eyes in the future and if so, how do you prevent it from happening? Today I am going to try and cover all these questions and equip you with the knowledge that will help prevent damage to your eyes in the future!

Prevent Blindness
There are essentially three aspects of your vision health that you really want to take note of when it comes to the degeneration of your eyes. Those three are:

The strain caused on your eyes by focusing in one place for long periods of time The nutrients that you ingest and how they affect your eye health The potential damage caused by the glow from tablet and phone screens.

Studies that have been done most recently show that as much as one tenth of the world could be suffering from blindness by the year 2050. That is a startling amount of people! But why? And how can ensure that you are not one of these people?

Eye Strain
The first thing you want to ask yourself is do you suffer from computer vision syndrome? If you have ever found yourself with dry eyes, tired eyes, blurred vision or any kind of neck and back pains that accompany your use of computers or mobile phones – then your eyes are likely taking some strain and your eye health is being effected.

The biggest part of the rise in blindness is the rise of myopia (short sightedness). Myopia is caused by consistently focusing on something right in front of you for long periods of time. Sound familiar? It’s no wonder that myopia is taking hold in society, while we all sit staring at our mobile phones and computer screens for hours at a time. But we can’t live without these devices anymore, so how do you prevent getting myopia?

The answer is pretty simple, take a break! Get up and walk away from your PC, or put your phone down every 30 minutes and talk to someone. Go outside and focus on something far away and give your tired eyes some time to rest. Get into the habit of doing this and you will significantly reduce the chance for getting myopia in the future.

Eye Nutrition
Of course eye strain isn’t the only thing that can damage your eye sight. Nutrition plays a huge role in how well your eyes function as well. Just like every other organ in your body, your eyes require certain nutrients to be able to function properly and heal themselves. Stop providing these nutrients and you suffer the same eye health degeneration as someone staring at a computer screen all day.

A healthy diet for eyes will include a lot of veggies and fruit. These are great for your eyes as they provide all the nutrients your eye needs. If veggies and fruit are not an option or you feel like you want to be sure you are getting the right nutrients, then head down to one of our eye health stores and ask an optometrist to prescribe an eye health formula specifically for you. There are many choices when it comes to eye health nutrients and we can assist you in finding the best one for you and your eyes.

HEV Light And Eye Health
This last bit is nothing yet confirmed, but it is something to take into consideration. Many opticians and eye health specialists are concerned about the light that is generated from mobile phone screens. This HEV light (High Energy Visible light), may potentially do damage to the more sensitive parts of your eye.

During the day or in proper lighted situations the effect is far less, but texting on your phone at night in a dark room for instance, could cause lasting damage. As I stated before, this is not yet confirmed, but in all likely hood, there is at least a very good chance that it may be consistent with macular degeneration, so why take the chance? If you are going to use your phone, make sure you use it in a well-lit room where the effect of the HEV lighting is lessened.

Conclusions
Well I really hope this helps you understand the things that may cause blindness and what you can do to prevent it. While this is just a one way conversation with me talking to you, remember that our optometrists are always available to chat to if you have any questions whatsoever. There is no such thing as a stupid question when it comes to your health, you only get one set of eyes and there are not replaceable… yet.

Have a look at our store pages to find an optician near you, or call us on 0861 693 937 and speak to someone in person.