What Causes Poor Eyesight in Everyday Life?

1. Staring at Screens

Staring at screens for long hours can cause many vision issues. Whether it’s your laptop, desktop, tablet, smartphone or TV, prolonged screen time commonly leads to digital eye strain.

A key factor in digital eye strain is exposure to blue light—a powerful, high-energy wavelength that can damage the eye’s retina and lead to other vision issues. Your blink rate also decreases when gazing at a screen for hours, drying out your eyes and causing blurred vision and fatigue.

If you have refractive eye conditions like farsightedness, astigmatism or presbyopia, over-exposure to screens can exacerbate your symptoms. Over time, excessive screen time can even increase the risk of retinal deterioration.

Swimming while wearing your contacts can lead to infections from viruses and bacteria found in the water. Debris can lodge beneath contact lenses, causing ulcers and corneal abrasions.

3. Using the Wrong Eye Drops

There’s an important distinction between artificial tears and eye drops that reduce redness. The latter drops cause the blood vessels in your eyes to tighten. While this may be effective in making your eyes look clear, these drops restrict blood flow and can cause damage if overused.

When the effects of a redness-reducing drop wear off, the blood vessels may overextend, resulting in increased redness. Constricting the vessels may reduce the flow of oxygen to the eyes, leading to ulcers and other conditions.

4. Experiencing Direct Sunlight Exposure

Too much direct exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays can cause lasting damage to your eyes. Since UV ray exposure usually doesn’t cause pain or discomfort, many people don’t realize that damage is occurring.

Failing to protect your eyes from the sun increases your chances of developing macular degeneration, cancer and cataracts. Additionally, exposure to UV light can cause an acute condition called photokeratitis, also called snow blindness. This condition is like a sunburn of the eyes.

5. Eating a Poor Diet

You might not think of your diet as a primary factor in what causes poor eyesight. However, junk foods like potato chips and french fries are high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats and linoleic acid. These ingredients increase your risk of developing advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD)—in addition to other health problems, many serious.

Highly processed foods, including those high in refined sugar and starch, can all lead to poor eye health and early deterioration of your eyesight. Eating these foods frequently can also increase your risk of developing diabetes, which can cause retinopathy.

6. Having Undiagnosed Conditions

Not all eye conditions present symptoms, so you don’t always know when you have one. The leading eye diseases affecting Americans include:

• Macular degeneration
• Cataracts
• Diabetic retinopathy
• Glaucoma

The American Macular Degeneration Foundation also reports that macular degeneration is the leading cause of permanent vision loss in Americans over age 60.

Diabetes can go undetected for years before you realize its toll on your body. Retinopathy occurs when diabetes causes damage to your retinal blood vessels. As the leading cause of preventable blindness, retinopathy often goes undiagnosed until it reaches an advanced stage.

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1. Reduce Screen Fatigue

If you can reduce your exposure to screens, do it! But we recognize this isn’t always practical. If you’re likely to spend long hours in front of the computer screen, you can reduce screen fatigue by taking periodic breaks. Try implementing the 20-20-20 rule: For every 20 minutes you spend staring at a screen, look at an object at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds.

Doing so gives your eyes a break from fatigue-inducing blue light waves. It’s also a good idea to blink slowly after your 20-second break, which allows the eyes to replenish their tears.

Soft, atmospheric lighting helps to counteract the brightness and glare of the screen. In addition, we highly recommend wearing glasses designed to block out harmful blue light.

2. Care for your Contacts

Proper care of your contact lenses is an important way to protect your eyes. Avoid handling your contacts after using lotion and always remove them when you go swimming or head to bed. Only wash your lenses with the prescribed lens-cleaning solution.

3. Use the Right Eye Drops

The best solution for dry, itchy eyes is the production of natural tears. But if you need something to help keep your eyes lubricated, steer clear of eye drops designed to reduce redness. Instead, look for saline-based eye drops or artificial tears.

Artificial tears are gentle on your eyes when used on a short-term basis. But if you’re not creating natural tears on your own, be sure to make an appointment with your eye doctor. You could be dehydrated or suffering from a tear duct blockage.

5. Choose a Healthy Diet

You probably know that vitamin-rich foods are good for your eyes, but many underestimate the importance of a proper diet. Eat nutritious foods each day to get the daily nutrients needed for healthy eyes.

• Vitamin E: This antioxidant helps prevent cell damage. Daily intake of vitamin E from foods like salmon, avocado, leafy greens, nuts and seeds can reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration.
• Zinc: Zinc helps your body produce melanin—a pigment that protects your retina from the sun and helps prevent cataracts. Eggs, beans, nuts and lean protein are all excellent sources of zinc.
• Vitamin C: Your body uses vitamin C to make collagen, a necessary protein for the health of your cornea and sclera (the white part of the eye). Getting plenty of vitamin C from carrots, leafy greens and citrus fruits reduces the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma and cataracts.
• Omega-3 fatty acids: These nutrients come from fish oil and are vital in the health of your retinas, tear production and in reducing inflammation. You can get what your body needs by eating one to two servings of fish each week.
• Lutein and zeaxanthin: Both lutein and zeaxanthin protect your eyes from cataracts and retinal damage by absorbing UV light. Foods like spinach, broccoli and peas are rich in lutein and zeaxanthin.

Hydration is essential to the health of your eyes as well. Drink at least eight cups of water every day to replenish your tears and keep your eyes naturally hydrated.

6. Be Consistent with Annual Eye Exams

Staying current with eye exams is one of the most important preventive measures you can take for your eye health. Your eye doctor screens for conditions and look for signs of eye problems, offering early intervention if necessary.

During an eye exam at Visionworks, we view the interior of your eye with incredible detail, potentially identifying conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. These conditions are often seen first in the small blood vessels of the eye—and their early detection and treatment are crucially important to long-term health.

Do your eyes a favor and schedule your eye exam appointment today to learn more!