Preventative Care

While it is important to see your University Eye Specialists ophthalmologist regularly, maintaining healthy eyesight starts at home. From early development to later in life, maintaining healthy vision begins at home by adapting to a healthy lifestyle.

Birth to 24 Months of Age
At birth, babies’ eyes and visual systems are still developing. They can’t see as well as children and adults; however, these senses develop rapidly in just the first few months of life. Within the first two years, hand-eye coordination and depth perception are well developed. Parents can help children develop of healthy eyesight during this time.

Birth to 4 Months

• Keep a nightlight in the baby’s room
• Change the crib’s position frequently
• Keep reach-and-touch toys within the child’s focus
• Talk to your baby as you walk around the room
• Use alternate sides when feeding

Five to eight months

• Hang a mobile in the baby’s crib
• Give the baby plenty of time to explore surroundings
• Give the baby blocks to play with and hold in their hands
• Play games such as Patty Cake that involve hand-eye coordination with your baby

Nine to twelve months

• Play hide and seek games with toys to help develop visual memory

One to two Years

• Roll a ball back and forth; this helps the child to track objects with eyes visually
• Read and tell stories to encourage the child to visualize

Preschool Years (Two to Five Years)
During the preschool years, children fine-tune the visual abilities developed in infancy as well as gain new ones. They are developing on their visually guided eye-hand-body coordination, fine motor skills and visual perceptual abilities.

Some things that parents can do with their preschoolers to help develop these skills include:

• Practice playing catch
• Read aloud, allowing the child to see what is being read
• Provide drawing materials
• Encourage activities such as puzzle building that require hand-eye coordination
• Play simple memory games
• Encourage outdoor play

School-age (Six to Eighteen Years)
The majority of what a child learns is done through their eyes. When their vision is not functioning properly, their ability to perform in school and other activities can suffer. Regular appointments to check for vision problems are vital, but there are also things that can be done at home to help maintain healthy eyes and good vision:

• Eat Healthily - Include five servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Food such as leafy, green vegetables and fish are high in the antioxidants that are important to healthy vision.
• Exercise Regularly - Regular exercise improves circulation, increasing blood flow and oxygen to the eyes.
• Wear Sunglasses - Sunglasses are important to protecting the eyes from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays when outdoors. Choose sunglasses with UVA and UVB protection.

Adult (Nineteen to Forty Years)
A healthy lifestyle is imperative to maintaining healthy eyes and good vision. Today’s world can be very visually demanding. Many jobs require staring at computer screens for long periods of time, causing visual stress. Adults can help children prevent vision problems:

• Eat Healthily - Include five servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Food such as leafy, green vegetables and fish are high in the antioxidants that are important to healthy vision.
• Don’t Smoke - Smoking is not only bad for your lungs, but also exposes the eyes to high levels of chemicals. Smoking can increase the risk for developing age-related macular degeneration and cataracts.
• Exercise Regularly - Regular exercise improves circulation, increasing blood flow and oxygen to the eyes.
• Workplace Adjustments - Position the top of your computer monitor just below eye level to reduce strain on the eyes. Adjust screen brightness and avoid screen glare to also reduce stress on the eyes.
• Use Proper Lighting - Overhead lights can be harsh and often brighter then necessary. When possible, consider turning some lights off and using desk lamps to provide a more comfortable lighting environment.
• Take Breaks - When staring at a computer screen for a long period of time, remember to periodically give your eyes a chance to rest. Make sure you look away from the screen for a couple minutes every hour to allow your eyes to readjust.
• Wear Sunglasses - Sunglasses are important to protecting the eyes from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays when outdoors. Choose sunglasses with UVA and UVB protection.

Adult Vision (Forty-One Years and Older)
As with other parts of the body, your eyes and vision change over time. Aging changes in the eye can result in noticeable differences in how well you see. Not everyone experiences the same combination or level of symptoms, however. The following are common age-related changes:

• Need for More Light - As you age you may find that you need more light to see has well as you did in the past.
• Difficulty Reading or Doing Work Close-up - The lens of the eye becomes less flexible with time, and so it becomes more difficult to focus on objects that are near.
• Problems with Glare - You may experience additional glare from headlights at night. This is because changes in the lens of the eye cause light entering the eye to be more scattered rather than focused precisely on the retina.
• Changes in Color Perception - It may become more difficult to distinguish between certain shades of colors.
• Reduced Tear Production - As you age you may find that your eyes may feel more frequently dry and irritated. This is particularly common for women after menopause. This is because with age, tear glands produce fewer tears.

Adult (Over 60 years of age)
Your vision will continue to change as you get older. It is important to know what to expect; however, many eye diseases have little to no early warning signs. For this reason, it is vital that you schedule periodic eye examinations with your University Eye Specialists ophthalmologist. Early detection of vision disorders is vital to limiting future vision loss.

Some of the vision disorders that are common among adults over the age of 60 include:

• Age-related macular degeneration
• Diabetic retinopathy
• Retinal detachment
• Cataracts
• Glaucoma
• Dry Eye