Top 5 Eye Safety Tips

Top 5 Eye Safety Tips from our Leawood Optometrist

Couple wearing glasses

While most eye injuries are not serious enough to require professional treatment or even a trip to the emergency room, all eye injuries can be prevented by being mindful of your surroundings and the objects in your surroundings. Knowing basic eye first aid is also helpful for reducing the risk of major damage to the eye's surface and its components. Always cover an injured eye with a patch and have someone take you to your eye doctor as soon as possible.

Useful Eye Safety Tips

1. Wear sunglasses when planning to remain in bright sunshine for more than 30 minutes and never look directly at the sun. Sunglasses prevent ultraviolet radiation from damaging DNA in your eye's cells, the main cause of cataracts and possibly macular degeneration. Ultraviolet radiation is also responsible for giving your eyes sunburn if you stare directly at the sun for more than two seconds. Corneal cells can actually blister if suddenly overexposed to ultraviolet light.

2. Stop and think before rubbing your eyes! What could be on your fingers? Dirt? Cleaning solutions? Pet dander? Always wash your hands (or use hand sanitizer) before rubbing your eyes or attempting to remove free-floating debris.

3. Take frequent "eye breaks" from your computer. Get up, move around and look out a window for five or 10 minutes. During your eye break, avoid focusing on details. Constantly straining your eyes by staring at a monitor all day can make your eyes burn, itch, sting or tear excessively. Chronically strained eyes could lead to worsening of mild refractive errors.

4. Wear eye protection (goggles or safety glasses) while playing sports, working with power tools, applying lawn and garden chemicals, riding a motorcycle or doing any activity that involves the possibility of trauma or something harmful entering your eyes.

5. And the best eye safety tip? Get regular eye exams from your eye doctor! Detecting and treating vision or eye abnormalities in their earliest stages is essential for treating disorders as successfully as possible.

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Schedule an appointment for an eye exam today by calling 913-239-9446.

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