6 Ways to Maintain Healthy Eyes into Senior Life

For most people, vision loss is a gradual disease. Eye diseases like macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and cataracts can have a significant effect on a person’s functional abilities and quality of life.

The best way to safeguard your vision is to detect irregularities with regular eye examinations. Positive lifestyle habits such as regular exercise, a healthy diet, and regular rest could help prevent certain eye problems associated with aging.

If you’re over the age of 60, you should have an eye exam at least once a year. The most common cause for cataracts is aging and is most common in those aged 80 plus. Cataracts can be corrected by laser eye surgery.

One of the first steps to leading a safe and active life with impaired vision is understanding the degree of loss and underlying causes. For some, impaired vision can result in withdrawal, inactivity, and depression.

Nutrition

Eating a high amount of sugar and saturated fat could raise your chance of developing eye disease. Health problems like age-related eye diseases are preventable by eating lots of healthy fruits and vegetables.

Diets that are abundant in dark green vegetables and freshly colored fruits contain a great number of antioxidants. Those who enjoy a lifestyle that includes plenty of minerals, omega-3, proteins, lutein, and minerals are less prone to cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

Antioxidants are an important part of a healthy diet because they reduce the damage caused by oxidizing agents that result in age-related eye diseases.

Zeaxanthin and lutein are plant pigments that are found in spinach, kale, sweetcorn, peas, and broccoli. These nutrients protect the retina from ultraviolet light which can cause dangerous oxidative changes.

Other powerful antioxidants are vitamins A and C. These vitamins are essential for healthy vision and are found in yellow and orange vegetables like sweet potatoes and carrots.

Exercise

Regular exercise can help improve oxygen intake and blood circulation in our eyes. Obviously, exercising daily also has benefits for maintaining a healthy weight, which helps stave off diabetes. Gentle exercise including stretching, yoga, walking and tai chi can be an effective way to keep healthy.

Adults ages 65 and over should aim to be physically active every day, even if it’s just light activity. Activities that improve balance, strength, and flexibility should be performed 2 days a week as well as 150 minutes of moderately intensive activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity.

If you’re worried about falling, doing exercises to improve your balance, flexibility and strength will help you to feel stronger and more confident on your feet.

Smart Computer Use

Too much time spent using digital screens can result in discomfort and eye strain from childhood to senior life. Digital screens can become increasingly damaging to our eyes, causing migraines, strain or visual impairments like seeing double or blurriness.

Seniors that regularly use computers, especially those who spend long periods of time in front of screens, should ensure their workspaces have sufficient lighting, wear their prescription glasses and take screen breaks.

Sleep

During sleep, our body naturally lubricates our eyes which helps clear out irritants such as smoke, dust, and other allergens that we may have picked up over the course of our day.

Running low on sleep can take a toll on our eyes in ways that we may not even notice! When you’re low on sleep, you might notice spasms and twitching throughout the day. This could make it difficult to read, work, or even drive safely!

Patients who experience sleep deprivation may find that they have itchy and bloodshot eyes — also known as dry eye. Some people with this condition are light-sensitive and have blurred vision.

Over time, a lack of sleep can lead to more serious eye conditions like glaucoma. This develops when too much pressure builds up inside the eye, resulting in some people losing their vision entirely. However, adequate sleep gives the eyes enough chance to heal, rest and replenish so they can stay healthy.

Use Good Lighting

Simple steps like keeping the windows clean and pulling the curtains back in your home can make a difference to your eye health and comfort. If you already have difficulty seeing, make sure you have good electric lighting at the top and bottom of the stairs so you can see the steps clearly.

Unfortunately, less light reaches the retina during the aging process. This is due to pupil size reduction and the yellowing and thickening of the lens which impedes the transmission of light. Therefore, a 60-year-old received only about 40% of the same amount of light as a 20-year-old.

One of the best ways to avoid slips and trips for the aged is to make ensure their home is bright and appropriately lit for their safety. Just like you, clear vision helps the elderly to avoid obstacles and maintain balance.

Forgetfulness is a common occurrence during aging, it’s easy for the elderly to forget to turn on their lights, therefore removing the need to turn on the lights is a great way to make sure rooms, hallways and stairs consistently bright and well lit.

Motion-sensing, stick-on and wireless lights allow for quick and easy to illuminate often dark spaces like deep closets, long hallways, and stairs. These are also useable as night lights on bedside tables.

Wear Sunglasses

Strong sunlight can damage your eyes which could increase your risk of cataracts. Wearing sunglasses or contact lenses with a built-in UV filter will protect your eyes from harmful rays.

Cataracts and macular degeneration are conditions that seniors need to look out for that can be worsened by too much sun exposure. Therefore, sunglasses offer a vital measure of protection.

Polarized lenses filter glare and blue blockers which help to block out high-energy light. However, it’s important that the lenses chosen don’t affect their ability to see true colors and they must be able to identify changes in their environment that might cause them injury.

Conclusion 

If you experience significant changes in your vision or if you have a progressive eye disease, you should visit your optometrist at least once a year. We rely on our vision for even the most basic tasks throughout adulthood and it’s easy to think that deteriorating vision is a part of life. Simple changes like improved lighting, a good diet, regular sleep and wearing sunglasses can help you see better for longer.