Myopia is simply the medical term for near-sightedness – a very common vision impairment where things that are far away are more difficult to see. People with myopia have no trouble reading or completing up-close tasks, but driving or grocery shopping might require vision correction.
While this is something many people have to deal with, and vision correction is a simple solution, there are still ways in which to make your life with myopia a little easier, and help you manage the condition. Keep reading to see how to take control.
1. Wear the Right Prescription
First of all, wearing a prescription that no longer fits your eyes can be incredibly damaging and you might even feel the effects physically. Your eyes might feel strained and you could suffer from constant headaches. If you experience these or can visibly notice a difference in your vision, it’s time for a visit to the optometrist.
Be sure to wear your vision correction at all times when it’s necessary – such as when driving – but avoid wearing it when it’s not required, for example when you’re reading a book. You might even invest in night driving glasses if this is something you do often – this can make the experience safer and more comfortable.
2. Upgrade Your Work Station
If you’re working from home, you have full control over the way your workstation is set up, which means you can prioritize your eye health in the way you work. Some ways you can help your sight is by investing in higher-resolution screens, larger screens and even using multiple screens if you need to switch quickly between programs or windows.
You can also keep your monitor a little further back from your face while you’re wearing your glasses or contact lenses. This is because the eye will have to work a little less strenuously to focus on the screen if it’s further away. You can combat the distance with larger fonts if necessary.
3. Take Regular Breaks
The human body wasn’t designed to spend upwards of 8 hours a day sitting at a desk and staring at a screen, but here we are. There’s no way around the fact that this has negative consequences for our health – back health, mental health, and yes, eye health.
You’ll need to do your best to combat this screen time by stepping away from your screen from time to time to give your eyes a break. You might try out the 20-20-20 rule by setting an alarm every 20 minutes to help you manage how often you give your peepers some much-needed relief.
4. Take Care of Your Eyes
Wearing your contact lenses a few weeks past their “expiry date” might seem like a non-issue since most people don’t feel any physical effects from this. However, the reality is that this can cause swelling of the cornea and impact the long-term health of your eyes.
Take care of your peepers by changing out your lenses as soon as they’re damaged or too old, and further, make sure to get your prescription updated regularly so that you’re not wearing an outdated prescription on your eyes.
5. Keep a Pair of Glasses Around
As mentioned, it’s not the best idea to keep contact lenses in for extended periods, especially when your eyes are feeling tired, swollen, or dry. You also shouldn’t necessarily be completing up-close tasks with your corrective lenses in, so keeping a good pair of spectacles around (with an updated prescription) can be helpful in these situations.
Glasses require less strain from the eyes, and can also be removed quickly and easily when reading or doing other, similar tasks.
6. Be Gentle
Rubbing your eyes and even using harsh makeup and beauty products around the eye area can cause damage that you might not even be aware of. When working with your eyes or the eye area, take extra care to be gentle and be conscious of the types of products you’re using and their ingredients – and of course, try to avoid getting them in the eye.
7. Watch Your Diet
We all know that maintaining a healthy, balanced diet is important for our overall health – it’s also pretty crucial for eye health. Don’t worry, there’s no special diet for myopia sufferers, so you can simply focus on getting in all the important nutrients we know we need anyway and you should be fine.
However, you can also focus on adding good foods for eye health to your diet more consciously. These include fatty fish, leafy greens and legumes.
