Eye health tips

1. Have regular eye tests

Have a regular eye test (at least every two years) even if you don’t wear glasses.

More than 50% of sight loss is preventable, so regular testing can prevent or limit the damage caused by certain eye conditions. For example, early detection of glaucoma can reduce the risk of irreversible vision loss.

An eye test can also detect other illnesses— it can reveal early symptoms of diabetes, brain tumours, heart disease, high blood pressure, MS, and other conditions.

Family history of vision loss

If you have a parent, brother, or sister with glaucoma, then the advice is to have an eye test once a year (the NHS will cover the fee for the test). Regular eye tests are also advisable for people who have diabetes to spot early signs of diabetic retinopathy.

2. Don't smoke

Smoking is harmful to your eye health and can increase the risk of sight loss.

As a smoker, you are twice as likely to lose sight as a non-smoker. Smoking can cause and worsen several eye conditions, some leading to permanent vision loss. For example, smoking increases the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy.

3. Look after your general health

Good general health is also good for eye health. An estimated 6.4 million people in the UK are at an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes carry a risk of Diabetic Retinopathy.

Yet research has consistently shown that combined lifestyle interventions—including diet, physical activity, and sustained weight loss—can be effective in reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes by about 50% for some people. 

So, a healthy lifestyle, including diet and regular exercise, is good for your eye health.

Make sure your diet includes nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, and vitamins C and E. Recommended foods include green leafy vegetables, oily fish such as salmon and mackerel, avocados, eggs, and citrus fruits.

Eating just one portion of fish a week may reduce your risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD) – the UK’s leading cause of blindness.

4. Keep fit

According to research, people who take part in moderate physical exercise are up to 25% less likely to develop glaucoma than people who don’t do much physical activity.

Being active and keeping a healthy weight and blood pressure can reduce your chances of developing other conditions affecting your eyesight, such as diabetes.

5. Wear protective goggles

Wear safety glasses or protective goggles to protect your eyes from injury if you do DIY, gardening, play squash, or set off fireworks.

Small pieces of metal, glass or wood can get embedded in the cornea at the front of the eye; these ‘foreign bodies’ are the second most common form of ocular trauma, with abrasions of the eye surface (cornea) being number one. 

Ocular trauma is a significant cause of visual impairment worldwide.

An estimated 19 million people worldwide have blindness in one eye from traumatic injury. If you experience an eye injury, such as a foreign body, seek help immediately by visiting your local hospital casualty department.

6. Wear sunglasses

Protect your eyes when it’s sunny or in high glare areas like near snow or water. Look for the CE mark, which indicates that sunglasses provide a safe level of protection from the sun’s damaging UVA and UVB rays and choose ones that sit closer to the eye. A wide-brimmed hat is helpful, too - and never look at the sun directly.

The Association of Optometrists (AOP) points to research by the World Health Organisation that 20% of cataracts are related to exposure to UV light. In addition, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) may develop sooner in people exposed to UV light.

Exposure to UV light can also increase the risk of pterygium (a benign, non-cancerous growth), pinguecula (a white or yellow bump on the white of the eye and photokeratitis (caused by short-term but high exposure to UV light).

7. Follow contact lens instructions

If you wear contact lenses, always follow the instructions given to you by your optometrist or the lens manufacturer. Thoroughly wash and dry your hands before touching your contact lenses or eyes.

Only clean your lenses and their case with the lens solution recommended by your optometrist. If you use a lens case, replace it every few weeks. Avoid showering, swimming or sleeping in your contact lenses. These steps can reduce the risk of developing Acanthamoeba keratitis, which can cause blindness.

8. Eye tests for screen users

Ask your employer about paying for an eye test if you work regularly with display screen equipment (DSE). By law, they must provide such an eye test and pay for glasses if an employee needs them only for DSE use.

Try to adopt the ’20-20-20’ rule, which recommends that for every 20 minutes spent using a screen, you should try to look away at something 20 feet away from you for 20 seconds. Following the rule should reduce eye strain caused by looking at screens for too long.

9. Family History

Your optometrist may want to know whether you have a family history of sight loss or eye conditions.

Talk to your relatives about your family's eye health. Some eye conditions, including glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration, have genetic links which may increase your risk of developing them. Share this information with your optometrist or eye health professional.

Leber congenital amaurosis is the most common form of inherited childhood blindness and affects two or three in every 100,000 newborn babies, eventually leading to blindness.

Fight for Sight-funded research has already led to pioneering gene therapies that are beginning to halt or reverse sight loss from inherited eye diseases, including Leber congenital amaurosis.

10. Get your children outdoors

Spending additional time outdoors every day reduces your children’s risk of short-sightedness (myopia). Experts recommend children spend 2 hours outdoors daily, but even a few minutes a day extra by walking or cycling instead of a taking car journey will make a difference.

The research evidence supporting the benefits of children spending time outdoors is so strong that schoolchildren in Taiwan now have 2 hours of outdoor time built into their school day.