IN THIS ISSUE:

  • ABCD’s of Cataracts
  • Eye Fatigue/Tips for Reducing
  • Vitreous Floaters
  • Six Tips to Maintain Good Eye Health

Six Tips to Maintain Good Eye Health

1. Eat for Good Vision

Protecting your eyes starts with the food on your plate. Nutrients such as lutein and zeaxanthin, omega-3 fatty acids, and zinc, in supplement form have been shown to help reduce vision loss for patients with age related macular degeneration (AMD). Regularly eating these foods may help lead to better eye health and possibly delay or prevent AMD:

  • Green, leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, and collards
  • Salmon, tuna, and other oily fish
  • Eggs, nuts, beans, and other non-meat protein sources
  • Oranges and other citrus fruits or juices

2. Quit Smoking

Smoking makes you more likely to get cataracts, optic nerve damage, and macular degeneration. If you've tried to quit smoking before and started smoking again, keep trying. The more times you try to quit smoking, the more likely you are to succeed.

3. Wear Sunglasses

Too much UV exposure makes you more likely to get cataracts and possibly macular degeneration.

Choose sunglasses that block 99% to 100% of both UVA and UVB rays. Wraparound lenses help protect your eyes from the side. Polarized lenses reduce glare when driving.

4. Use Safety Eyewear

If you work with hazardous or airborne materials on the job or at home, wear safety glasses or protective goggles every time. Certain sports such as ice hockey, racquetball, and lacrosse can also lead to eye injury. Wear eye protection to shield your eyes.

5. Look Away From the Computer Screen

Take “eye breaks” when you are using your computer. Staring at a computer screen for too long can cause:

  • Eyestrain
  • Blurry vision
  • Trouble focusing at a distance
  • Dry eyes
  • Headaches
  • Neck, back, and shoulder pain

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.

6. Visit Your Eye Doctor Regularly

Everyone, even young children, should get their eyes examined regularly. It helps you protect your sight and see your best.

Eye exams can also find some eye diseases, such as glaucoma, that have no symptoms. It's important to find these diseases early on, when they're easier to treat.

Welcome to the Eye Care Associates newsletter

We thank you for being a patient and hope you will enjoy this information about our practice and your overall eye health.

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The ABCD’s of Cataracts

Affecting your eyesight

In a normal eye, light enters and passes through the lens. The lens focuses the light into a sharp image on the retina, which relays messages through the optic nerve to the brain. If the lens is cloudy from a cataract, the image you see will be blurry. Other eye conditions, such as myopia, may also cause blurry vision, but cataracts produce some distinctive signs and symptoms.

A cataract is a progressive, painless clouding of the natural, internal lens of the eye. Cataracts block light, making it difficult to see clearly. Over an extended period of time, cataracts can cause blindness.

The majority of cataracts are related to aging. More than half of Americans over 65 have cataracts, but they can develop in younger people too. Babies can be born with what are known as congenital cataracts, and children may develop them as a result of injury or illness.

Blurry vision

Blurry vision at any distance is the most common symptom of cataracts. Your view may look foggy, filmy, or cloudy. Over time, as cataracts worsen, less light reaches the retina. People with cataracts may have an especially hard time seeing and driving at night.

Color changes

Cataracts can affect your color vision, making some hues look faded. Your vision may gradually take on a brownish or yellowish tinge. You may not notice this discoloration at first, but over time it may become more difficult to distinguish blues and purples.

Other early symptoms of cataracts are glare and sensitivity to light. You may have trouble seeing in bright sunlight. Indoor lights that once didn’t bother you now may seem too bright or have halos. Driving at night may become a problem because of the glare caused by street lights and oncoming headlights.

Double Vision

Sometimes, cataracts can cause double vision (diplopia). Images will appear double in the eye affected by cataract even with only one eye open. This differs from double vision caused by the eyes not working with each other properly due to a muscle issue. In this case, the double vison usually goes away when either one of the eyes is shut.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT EYE CATARACTS

Eye Fatigue

Eye fatigue or eye strain is a common and often irritating condition. Symptoms include tired, itching, and burning eyes. It is rarely a serious condition and common sense precautions at home, work, and outdoors may help to prevent or reduce it.

Sometimes eye fatigue is a sign of an underlying condition that may need medical treatment. If eye fatigue persists despite taking simple precautions, see your doctor. This is especially important if your eye fatigue is associated with headaches or with eye problems such as:

  • Discomfort
  • Double vision
  • Significant change in vision

Symptoms of Eye Fatigue

Eye fatigue is associated with uncomfortable and bothersome symptoms, such as:

  • Sore or irritated eyes
  • Difficulty focusing
  • Dry or watery eyes
  • Blurred or double vision
  • Increased sensitivity to light
  • Pain in the neck, shoulders, or back

These symptoms can decrease your productivity. They may be intensified by sleep deprivation. During sleep, the eyes are replenished with essential nutrients. Lack of sleep may result in persistent eye irritation.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT EYE FATIGUE; CAUSES AND WAYS TO PREVENT

Vitreous Floaters

Vitreous floaters are small moving spots that appear in your field of vision. They may be especially noticeable when you look at something bright, such as white paper or a blue sky. While annoying, floaters don't interfere with your sight in most cases.

Occasionally a particularly large floater may cast a subtle shadow over your vision. This tends to occur only in certain types of light. Most of the time people learn to live with floaters and ignore them as they often improve over months to years. Only rarely do benign floaters become bothersome enough to consider treatment.

Sometimes floaters are a sign of a more serious condition. You should seek immediate medical attention if you notice a sudden increase in the number of floaters.

Immediate medical attention is especially important if the floaters are accompanied by brief flashes of light or a loss of side vision. If you have these symptoms, see your ophthalmologist right away. These symptoms may be caused by:

  • Retinal detachment
  • Retinal tear
  • Bleeding within the eye

Retinal detachments, tears and holes require immediate treatment to prevent permanent loss of vision.

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT THE SYMPTOMS, CAUSES AND TREATMENT OF FLOATERS