From the chemicals in the pool to the sun that burns soft tissues – summer can be harmful to your eyes. You can still enjoy the summer time though by taking some measures provided by Dr. Alex Wilson & Associates to protect your precious eyes. Most of the measure you take is common sense, which is sad to say isn’t always that common.

During summer, common eye problems that one may encounter are red eyes, allergies, migraines, and conjunctivitis. Eye protection and appropriate eye hygiene can help in protecting the eyes from problems.

3 Ways To Care For Your Eyes This Summer

Every season can affect the eyes in various ways. Below are a few things you can do so your eyes are protected during the hot summer months.

Use Sunglasses

Since one reason why your eyes are prone to damage is due to the UV light from the sun, tinted glasses are great and effective in filtering such harmful rays. Though contact lenses sometimes have UV protections built in, doctors reveal that they don’t offer protection to the white part of the eyes. Also, sunglasses can also offer protection from reflections that increase exposure since the eyes absorb reflected light that is normally absorbed by non-reflecting objects. But take note, when buying or choosing sunglasses, just make sure you buy and wear those that offer 100% protection from UVA and UVB rays. Wear them even during cloudy days.

Wear Hats

Wearing sunglasses each time you go outdoors doesn’t offer total protection from UV rays in your eyes and eyelids. The gaps in the sunglasses can make it possible for UV ray to expose other parts of the eye. While wearing sunglasses, you can add a hat that has a brim of 3 inches at least. Wearing sunglasses and hats every time you go out can greatly help lower your exposure from UV rays.

Eat Healthy and Drink Plenty of Water

You may not know it but what you are eating can affect how well your vision is. Food good for the eyes isn’t limited to carrots only.

There are a lot of foods that has nutrients to help boost eyesight and aid in preventing the development of eyesight issues. Antioxidants like lutein and zeaxanthin are known to help prevent cataracts and macular degeneration. Consuming food or supplements that are high in Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and zinc can help people with age-related macular degeneration symptoms; they aid in slowing or preventing the progress of the symptoms.

Furthermore, during the summer season, people have a high risk of being dehydrated, which may affect vision. Severe dehydration can make it difficult for the body to create tears, which can lead to dry eye symptoms and other vision-related problems. Drinking a lot of water every day can help prevent and reverse most of the bad effects of dehydration and also providing fluid for proper eye functioning.

Visit a Calgary optometrist if you need an eye exam or for more eye care services.