A majority of us probably have a problem when it comes to our eyesight. Some of us might have had problems as early as teenage years or even younger, while others might have developed this problem during the later years. Whether you were young or older with having trouble with your eyes, there are natural ways in correcting eyesight. Read on and learn more about what you can do for yourself or for someone you care about to somehow improve your eyes.
What are the common eyesight problems people usually get?
A. Astigmatism
Astigmatism is an eye condition that is described with blurring of vision. This is the main symptom people initially start to encounter. This eye condition is actually a refractive error (means that it is not an eye health trouble); it is a problem with how our eye focuses light. See, astigmatism has trouble focusing on light because the cornea (front area of the eye) is not curved correctly. Light fails to come to focus on the eye’s retina and cannot produce clear vision. It creates multiple focus points from either behind or in front of the retina and sometimes even both.
Symptoms of astigmatism are the following:
- Blurring of vision
- Headaches especially right after prolonged reading or staring at the TV or computer for long periods of times
B. Myopia or nearsightedness
Another very common eye condition is myopia or nearsightedness. As the name implies, you are capable of seeing objects near but have a problem seeing objects that are far. This occurs when the person’s eye ball or cornea is longer than normal or has too much curvature. The light therefore entering the eye isn’t being focused properly and objects that are distant are blurred.
Symptoms of myopia are as follows:
- Having trouble seeing objects from a distance
- Squinting
- Eye strain and headaches
- Feeling of tiredness from playing sports or driving (also a common symptom for sore eyes)
C. Hyperopia or farsightedness
Hyperopia or farsightedness is another eye disorder that is also very common. The opposite of myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia allows the eye to see objects from afar and gives the person a problem focusing on things up close. Just the opposite of myopia, the eyeball or cornea is too short and has a little curvature, thus making the light that enters the eye not have the correct focusing capabilities.
Since you have the basics with the most common eye problems, let’s talk about the natural methods you can try out to possibly improve your eyesight naturally if symptoms are still mild.
- Eat the right foods for eye health. Diet always plays a vital role in treating health illnesses. Focus on eating the following foods; Omega-3 fatty acids that salmon, tuna and fish contains, Leafy green vegetables, citrus fruits such as lemons, limes, grapefruit and oranges, protein sources mostly found in nuts, bananas and beans. Focus on eating colored vegetables (pumpkin and carrots), herbs that are rich in antioxidants like asparagus. Also vitamins that contain vitamin C and E, zinc and lutein.
- Wear your sunglasses. Sunglasses aren’t just made to make you look cool, wearing them can also help you prevent eye conditions. Being exposed to excessive ultraviolet light is bad and wearing sunglasses can really help you. Do make sure that the sunglasses are perfect fit for you and that you go to a professional ophthalmologist.
- Stay away from eye strain. Like other muscles in the body, eye muscles also get tired and could be in pain if you strain it too much. Try out these techniques to help you prevent eye strain:
- Turn down the brightness on the TV or laptop. Try reducing it to the lowest level possible
- Make the text bigger on your laptop or invest in buying reading material with larger fonts
- Try out the “20-20-20” technique. If you need to be staring at your computer screen for prolonged periods of time, make sure you take a break every 20 minutes. Focus on an object that is 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds
- Exercise your eye muscles to strengthen eye muscles and could possible improve vision
- Blinking is an exercise that can actually be helpful in its simple way. For two minutes in a day, blink every 3-4 seconds. After doing this for 2 minutes, take note of how your eyes feel, if they are relaxed or stressed out and tired. You can then try not blinking for 30 seconds the next 2 minutes and try to feel the difference.
- Another exercise you can try out is called palming. You can relax your eyes using this technique after a prolonged time focusing on the computer screen or TV. Before beginning, take a few deep breathes, make yourself comfy and close your eyes, place your two hands over your eyes by cupping your palms and covering your eyes while the heel of your hands are rested on your cheekbones and your fingers are on your forehead. This allows you to rest your eyes and mind for 5 minutes or so.
- Figure of eight is the last exercise to try out to increase your eyeballs flexibility. This needs your imagination to work. All you need to do is imagine a giant figure of eight right in front of you, around 10 feet away. Visualize the 8 laying on its side and trace the figure of eight with your eyes slowly.
- Getting enough sleep could also help reduce eye strain and enhances your lenses focusing capabilities.
- Avoid stress because like other conditions, stress can trigger eye pain and eye problems.
Besides these simple and useful techniques for helping your eye muscles out, I came across a website that I thought was very beneficial especially when it comes to natural remedies to restore vision. If you have some time, feel free to click on the image below and read about natural methods for your eyes.
