10 bad habits that hurt your eyes!

Dr Harshvardhan Ghorpade, a Cornea, Cataract and Refractive Surgeon at Department of Visual Sciences, Hiranandani Hospital, Vashi, explains how these small bad habits can hurt your eyes

10 bad habits that hurt your eyes!
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Thousands of people across age groups experience a considerable amount of eye strain due to some seemingly harmless lifestyle practices. In most cases, one is unaware of the things that hurt their eyes, causing further damage. Prevention of any infection or injury is far easier. Habits may be difficult to break or to get over, however, considering your vision it is 100% worth it.

1. Blue light/radiations from mobiles, laptops and iPads damage the surface of the eye leading to Chronic Red Eyes. They also disturb the sleep cycle, leading to one getting inadequate sleep.

2. Lesser eye-device (in the form of a laptop, iPad, and computers) distance, leads to faster progression of myopia (short-sightedness) in children, leading to thicker glasses in spectacles. It can also lead to chronic dry eyes.

3. Poor diet/ junk food damage the surface of the eye as well as can cause an early retinal degeneration and cataracts. It also leads to faster progression of Myopia in children

4. Self-medication is a bad habit and can lead to various conditions like corneal infection and glaucoma, especially with eye drops containing steroids, which many are unaware of.

5. Working in poor lighting conditions like reading, writing etc., can lead to straining of eyes, tiredness, headache, rapid myopia progression and loss of focus.

6. Late night sleeping habit can tamper the sleep cycle and can lead to tired and dry eyes and early onset of presbyopia i.e. farsightedness

7. Rubbing eyes with unclean hands can lead to infections like conjunctivitis and corneal injuries, causing blindness at times. Also, poor hygiene of contact lens, wearing contact lenses during sleep and while swimming can lead to devastating eye infections.

8. Poor hygiene of hands and eyelashes can cause eyelash infections as well as mite infestation, leading to boils and scales on the eyelid margins.

9. Eye makeup and chemical exposure can cause eyelid margin inflammation, leading to dry eyes and sometimes corneal infections & micro defects causing irritation to light exposure.

10. Neglecting eye protection gear during travel, swimming, festivals, areas with chemical industries and prolonged device-related work. During travel polaroid glasses can prevent UV light injuries to the retina; during swimming, it can prevent infections.

During festivals like Holi and Diwali, it can prevent injuries. While working in chemical industries, it can avoid chemical or thermal burns which can be devastating for eyes. And in front of computer or other light emitting devices, anti-reflective glasses can help prevent Computer Vision Syndrome, which involves chronic red and dry eyes.