5 Bad Habits Affecting Your Eyes and Vision
We all have that one bad habit we say we’ll eventually stop. But, when it comes to problematic habits affecting your eyes and vision, sooner is way better than later. While some vision issues arise from genetics and aging, most can be prevented or slowed with the right lifestyle choices. The eye care experts at Visionworks share the top five bad habits that can damage your eyes and the healthy habits to practice for good eye health now and into the future.
What Habits Damage Eyesight and Lead to Vision Problems?
We often take our eyes for granted, especially if we don’t have any known vision problems. However, our overall health habits significantly affect our eyes. Many of us engage in habits that negatively affect vision—without even knowing it! Some of the most common include forgetting to wear sunglasses, engaging in too much screen time, rubbing the eyes, sleeping in contacts and drinking or smoking in excess. We’re on a mission to simplify eye care. So, our Visionworks experts outline simple ways to remedy unhealthy vision habits and practice good eye health practices instead.
5 Bad Habits Affecting Your Eyes and Damaging Your Vision
1. Forgetting to Wear Sunglasses
We all like to have fun in the sun. However, forgetting to wear sunglasses can expose your eyes to harmful ultraviolet rays. Long-term exposure to UV rays can lead to eye conditions like cataracts, macular degeneration, photokeratitis (eye sunburn) and eyelid skin cancer. Sunglasses—particularly polarized glasses with 100% UVA/UVB protection—reduce glare, improve visibility and defend the eyes against harmful rays. Sunglasses make outdoor activities in the sun more enjoyable while safeguarding your vision and eye health. Remember to wear your sunglasses all year long—even on cloudy days and during winter months.
2. Spending Too Much Time on Screens
Working on the computer, scrolling social media feeds and binge-watching the TV latest show all make it easy to rack up many hours of screen time in a single day. Screens emit blue light, which is nearly invisible and right next to ultraviolet light on the color spectrum. Prolonged blue light exposure may contribute to symptoms of eye fatigue and digital eye strain. Digital eye strain symptoms include dry eyes, visual fatigue and headaches. The good news is that changing your screen viewing habits help reduce these symptoms, so you feel your best:
- When working on screens, follow the 20-20-20 rule: For every 20 minutes of screen time, take a 20-second break to look at something 20 feet away.
- Ensure you have a proper amount of distance between your eyes and the screen.
- Reduce the amount of time you spend looking at screens. If this isn’t practical, consider getting blue light filtering glasses, which reduce blue light exposure by up to 45%.
3. Rubbing Your Eyes Too Much
It’s tempting to rub your eyes when tired or suffering from allergy symptoms. However, rubbing your eyes can cause irritation, redness and puffiness. Additionally, rubbing your eyes too hard or for a prolonged period can cause tiny blood vessels in the eyelids to break, leading to dark circles and discoloration. In some cases, rubbing your eyes can damage the cornea or spread infections like pink eye. It's best to avoid rubbing your eyes altogether. Instead, use artificial tears or eye drops to relieve dryness and discomfort.
4. Sleeping in Contacts
Sleeping with contacts, even only on occasion or during short naps, significantly increases your risk for serious eye infections like keratitis, conjunctivitis, eye ulcers, corneal neovascularization and acute red eye. While sleeping in contacts is never recommended and is one of the problematic habits affecting eye health, a full one-third of all contact wearers admit to falling asleep in their lenses. At a minimum, sleeping in contact lenses can cause burning, itching, swelling, redness and general discomfort to the eyes. While these uncomfortable symptoms should be enough to make you break the habit, sleeping in contacts also leaves you susceptible to more serious problems like eye infections, inflammation and scratches that could result in lasting damage or even vision loss. If you absolutely must sleep with contacts occasionally, talk to your eye doctor about using extended-wear contacts specifically designed for overnight use.
5. Smoking and Drinking in Excess
Excessive smoking and drinking are bad for your overall health and well-being. However, these bad habits also affect your eyes. Smoking can cause several eye problems, including cataracts, age-related macular degeneration and damage to the optic nerve. Excessive alcohol consumption can lead to nutritional deficiencies, causing vision problems such as optic neuropathy and jaundice. Additionally, both can result in dry eye symptoms and general eye discomfort. Most eye doctors recommend quitting smoking altogether and limiting drinking by following CDC recommendations.
Best Habits to Practice for Great Eye Health
So now that you know the bad eye habits to avoid, let’s cover some healthy vision habits to practice instead.
- Scheduling regular eye exams: Regular eye exams help detect vision problems early and prompt treatment can prevent them from worsening.
- Wearing protective eyewear: Eyewear, such as sunglasses and safety goggles, helps protect your eyes from harmful UV rays and other environmental hazards.
- Exercising regularly: Regular physical activity helps improve blood flow to the eyes and reduce the risk of chronic health conditions that can lead to vision problems.
- Eating a healthy diet: A diet rich in fruits, vegetables and omega-3 fatty acids helps protect your eyes from age-related vision problems.
- Reading the latest in eye health: Stay on top of your eye health with important eye health information from Visionworks!
Don’t Lose Focus on Your Eye Health
Bad habits can be hard to break but being proactive and staying focused on your short- and long-term eye health are important. We’re on a mission to simplify eye care. This means we strive to make caring for your vision as easy as possible with convenient locations, online appointment booking, friendly faces and relevant eye care information. Uplevel your eye health journey today by scheduling an appointment at a Visionworks store near you.
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Information received through Visionworks® content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, medical recommendations, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your eye doctor, physician, or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Claims regarding blue light efficiency are supported by manufacturer-provided test results.
