6 of the Best Eye Care Tips to Follow in Hot Weather
Most of us are most active in summer. As the temperature rises, you may engage in activities that could potentially affect your vision.
Follow these six tips to protect your eyes and your sight in the hot weather!
1. Drink Enough Water
Every cell, tissue, and organ in your body depends on water to function correctly. Every time you blink, your body lubricates your eyes to keep them moist.
You lose water when you breathe and sweat, and in between each blink, water evaporates from the surface of your eye. You drink plenty of water for whole-body health, but it protects your eyes as well by reducing the risk of eye conditions such as dry eye syndrome.
2. Wear Sunglasses With UV Protection
Spend time around pools and beaches, and you’re exposing your eyes to ultraviolet rays multiplied by reflective surfaces. The sun alone is damaging, but sunlight shining off of water, sand, concrete, or other light-reflecting surfaces can increase your risk of photokeratitis.
Like your skin, your eyes can get sunburned, and photokeratitis occurs when the sun’s UV rays burn your corneas. Symptoms include eye pain, redness, blurry vision, and even temporary vision loss.
Wear sunglasses marked one hundred percent UV protection or rated UV four hundred to prevent this.
3. Don’t Look Directly At The Sun
Under normal conditions, the sun is just too bright to look at. It’s essential to not look directly at the sun whenever there’s a solar eclipse.
Even if it doesn’t feel uncomfortable to look towards the sun, direct viewing will harm your retina, the tissue at the back of your eye that’s sensitive to light. The result is solar retinopathy, partial or total loss of vision that can be temporary or permanent.
Always take precautions when looking at the sun, even during sunrises and sunsets when UV intensity is reduced. If you’re viewing or photographing a sunrise or sunset, do not stare at the sun for more than a handful of seconds at a time.
Also, remember that a camera lens, binoculars, or viewing the sun through a telescope will not protect your eyes.
4. Avoid Sitting Next to Air Conditioning Units
Coming in from the hot sun, all you want to do is cool off rapidly. And while a quick blast of a nearby air conditioner feels good, try to avoid sitting near one for an extended period of time.
Rapidly circulating air can dry out your eyes. Since air conditioners reduce the amount of moisture in the air, the breeze blowing on your face will increase the evaporation of moisture from the surface of your eye.
Over time, this can lead to dry eye syndrome, a condition in which your eyes cannot adequately maintain moisture. Enjoy the air conditioning, but try not to have vents blowing directly on you.
When driving or riding in a car, position the vents away from your face.
5. Prevent Swimmer’s Eye
Every swimmer knows chlorine stings. Maintaining a clean pool requires powerful chemicals that destroy bacteria.
However, they also harm the natural tear film produced by your eyelids that keep your eyes moist. You’ll often come out with aching red eyes at the end of a swim, and sometimes your vision is blurry.
To avoid the swimmer’s eye symptoms, wear swim goggles so you can still see while keeping your eyes free from chlorine exposure.
6. Protect Your Eyes at Work and Play
You’re outdoors playing sports, gardening, doing yard work, and home repairs. You know to wear long pants and closed shoes when mowing the lawn or garden gloves when weeding and planting.
Take the extra step and put on protective eyewear to safeguard your vision. Safety glasses can prevent airborne debris and flying objects from damaging your eyes.
If you’re playing tennis or baseball, the proper eyewear can save you from injury if you get a direct hit to the face.
Do you want to learn more about how you can keep your eyes healthy and your vision safe? Schedule an appointment at Berg Feinfield Vision Correction in Burbank, CA, today
