Top things that damage your eyes

There are things that you do each day, which affect the health of your eyes. Before you know it, you might need the help of prescription glasses or contact lenses. Before that happens, recognize the signs. Don’t let that eye fatigue turn into actual eye damage.

Spending too much time on your smartphone. Probably because the use of smartphones has been so naturalized, this is the primary culprit for damaged eyes. Most people suffer from extreme and prolonged eye fatigue caused by staring over long hours of the day at the tiny fonts of their mobile phones, just trying to read all those Facebook posts. This can cause blurred vision, nausea, and dizziness. One way to fight this off is to cut down on your mobile phone use, or to at least adjust the font of your display so that it won’t cause too much eyestrain.

Watching TV when it’s dark. Watching TV, or staring at a brightly lit e-reader at night can badly damage your eyes. With the light levels changing, your eyes have to work double time to focus. For this reason, watching or reading in this manner is not recommended. This can cause redness, dry eyes, headaches, and could even intrude with your sleep schedule. Dimming the background light of your gadget is not recommended either because this can still cause eyestrain. Sleeping with your contacts on, or improperly taking them out without sanitizing your hands. One of the biggest causes for eye infection when you are using contacts is mishandling them.

Sleeping with your contacts on can cause severe eye damage, which could even lead to blindness. Imagine your eyes rolling up when you close it and there is still that foreign object inside your lids! You could damage your cornea, or at the very least, promote the growth of bacteria. Taking them out with your un-sanitized hands can also cause a lot of problems later on. You should also clean your contacts with a lot of solution after taking them out.

Rubbing your eyes. Your eyelids are very sensitive. The skin is very thin, and when you rub them when they’re irritated or itchy, you run the risk of not only irritating your eyes further but also breaking the blood vessels under your eyes. Instead of rubbing your eyes when they feel itchy, apply cold compress instead.

Using eye drops. The use of eye drops should be properly monitored, as these drops do not really improve the health of your eyes. Using them too much can even upset the natural chemical balance of your eyes and lead to infections. Just use them when necessary, and never for prolonged periods.

Not using eye makeup correctly. Using old makeup can damage your eyes. It is recommended for you to keep your mascara and other eye makeup for only three months if you use them on a daily basis. If you don’t, try to sanitize the applicators of your eye shadow at lease to prevent the growth of bacteria. When applying eye makeup, try not to block out the glands that produce oil for your eyes. Once you feel irritated by your eye makeup, immediate removal is recommended. You must also replace them once your eyes begin showing signs of irritation.