Save Your Vision Month is celebrated every March and sponsored by the American Optometric Association. Save Your Vision Month aims to increase awareness about good eye care and encourages everyone to get an eye exam. The celebration was initially reserved for only a week. However, President Lydon B. Johnson raised its profile in 1963 by making Save Your Vision Month a national observance. Later on, in 2005, the American Optometric Association delegates voted to extend the awareness campaign to a month.
To celebrate Save Your Vision Month, we would like to remind our patients the importance of eye health and comprehensive eye exams. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 93 million adults in the United States are at high risks for serious vision loss. Still, only half visited an eye doctor in the past.
While not all eye diseases can be prevented, there are simple steps that everyone can take to help their eyes remain healthy now and reduce their chances of vision loss in the future.
Listed are four ways to adopt healthy habits to Save Your Vision:
Exam
Schedule your eye exam TODAY! Don’t delay or deny your eye health.
Rest
Give the screens a rest and follow the 20/20/20 rule. The increasing prevalence of digital screens in our daily lives is having an adverse effect on ocular surface health—the new normal where most working adults working from home and students are learning remotely. Digital Eye Strain is a condition affecting individuals who spend excessive hours looking at computer monitors, smartphones, televisions, and tablets. To reduce digital eye strain, include the 20/20/20 rule in your daily habits. Every 20 minutes spent using a screen, you should try to look away at something that is 20 feet away from you for a total of 20 seconds.
Care
Talk to your eye doctor about treatment options for your chronic eye conditions. Don’t ignore or neglect the treatment of chronic eye conditions like diabetic retinopathy, cataracts, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma, and dry eye. Save your vision this month by treating your chronic eye conditions.
Hygiene
Improve your eye hygiene. Blepharitis and styes can be caused by blockages in the pores surrounding the eyes. To follow proper eye hygiene, carefully remove makeup before bedtime and replace makeup every six months to prevent bacteria. Also, wash your hands with soap and water when using contact lenses, and if you have allergies, don’t rub your eyes!
Save Your Vision Month reminds us not to take eye care for granted. From work to entertainment, our eyes are a large part of our everyday life. It’s essential to take the necessary steps towards better eye care. The struggle with adopting healthy habits is that they are hard to establish. However, the good news is that once you have made a switch in one area, it can be permanent and becomes a natural habit.
386.734.2931 or 407.734.2931
Resources
American Optometric Association
American Academy Ophthalmology
