Everyday habits that could damage your eyes

New Delhi : You may be putting your eyes at risk without knowing it. Things you do or don't do on a daily basis can cause damage that accumulates over time, increasing your chances of being diagnosed with an eye disease or experiencing vision loss.

Here are some habits we have identified that are silently hurting your eyes and vision.

You don’t wear goggles while swimming

The chlorine and other chemicals found in pool water can wash away your tear film. The tear film is a moist and thin layer of tears that coats the surface of your eyes and keeps them moist, smooth. As a result, your eyes might get uncomfortable and red, and may eventually develop dry eyes that lead to blurry vision. 

It's important to protect your eyes by wearing a pair of goggles every time you swim, which will keep pool chemicals out of your eyes and protect your tear film.

Not exercising

Exercise is essential for overall health, but it also can protect eyes specifically. Exercise helps to control diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol and all of these can otherwise lead to certain eye or vision problems.

Putting eyeliner on eye lashes

Don't apply makeup on your eyelash line, as applying eyeliner away from your lash line, you avoid blocking the oil glands located in your upper and lower eyelid. Those glands are important because they secrete oil that protects the eye's surface.

Using wrong kind of makeup

We want to get the most out of the eye makeup, but it's important to change it after three months and get new products. The infection-causing bacteria can grow particularly well in liquid or creamy eye makeup.

Too much screen-time 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we all were more glued to the screen than ever. However, if we don't give eyes frequent breaks to rest, we could be straining them. Staring at a screen strains your eyes more than reading a book is because you tend to blink less while looking at a screen—in fact, screens lower your blink rate and dry out your eyes.

Try to work about 25-30 inches away from your screen, adjust the lighting so your screen isn't much brighter than the surrounding light in your room. 

Rubbing your eyes

Rubbing your eyes occasionally won't cause issues, but constant eye rubbing can lead to weakening of the cornea and keratoconus, or the distortion of the cornea. It can also cause your eyelids to lose elasticity over time.

You don't put sunscreen on your eyelids

You should carefully be putting sunscreen on your eyelids to protect them from the sun. You can get skin cancers that affect the eyelids. Skin cancer is caused by ultraviolet rays from the sun, tanning beds, and sunlamps. These rays can damage skin cells, so it's important to use sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher every day.