Me, Myself, and Eyes: Millennial Vision Care
by: John Phillip Artacho
William Shakespeare once said, “the eyes are the window to the soul”. Let us not interpret this quote in the literal manner, let’s use it by focusing on the importance of our eyes.
Like our soul, the sense of sight is one of the most essential part of our life and our human anatomy, and losing this sensorial ability will only mean seeing nothingness forever, as in, literally, FOREVER.
The millennial generation is the most prone to lose the ability to see. Why? Simple answer is, “Gadgets”. More and more millennials are enthralled in the use of different gadgets, such as, smart phones, tablets, laptops, etc. and with a sedentary lifestyle and hereditary cases contribute a major factor for blindness.
Common causes of vision loss are the following:
- Optic neuritis – inflammation and weakening of the optic nerves, it may be sudden or gradual attack.
- Diabetic Retinopathy – weakening and damage of the retina due to diabetes.
- Computer Vision Syndrome – also known as Digital Eye Strain, this is due to long hours of staring at different gadgets, making the eyes lose its natural blinking normalcy, which is about 18 blinks per minute.
And so on, and so forth. There are too many eye diseases that can result with vision loss, and the visual technology is a very very big factor.
Don’t be scared, fret not millennial buddies, here are some vision care tips that will help you shield from the causes of losing sight. Just strictly follow these eye care list, or be doomed in “sightlessness” FOREVER.
# 20-20-20 Rule
This is how it works. Every time you lapse 20 minutes staring at your gadgets, look away from what you are doing, for 20 seconds, and look at anything at 20 feet away. Ain’t that easy to do? The important thing about doing this rule, is giving your eyes some breathing room to blink and let natural tears wet your very very sensitive inner eye parts. Do this not, and you’ll be sorry.
# Get your ass up!
Quit being a “couch potato” and hand down that gadget. Start doing some cardio exercise! A 15 minute cardiovascular exercise, whether doing some jump and jacks or jog on place or even some dance aerobics indoors, will promote good blood circulation, and of course, good flow will reach your eyes. Do this not, and you’ll be sorry.
# Eat right! Eyes bright!
Your vegetables are still the best food for your bright eye future. Dark green leafy veggies, like “kangkong” (water spinach) and carrots are the best choices. Eat fish as well, for it contains omega 3 nutrients. Do this not, and you’ll be sorry.
# Eye Shield 20:20
20:20 is the normal eye vision, greater or less than these numbers means bad for the sight. If your optometrist prescribes you to wear eyeglasses, then you must follow them. It is also the best practice to put your gadgets on low brightness levels, and avoid reading in the dark, because the light from your gadgets radiates high LEDD emission. Do this not, and you’ll be sorry.
# visit your Eye Doctor regularly
Your Ophthalmologist is your best friend in this millennial generation. Your eye Doctor will provide you the eye exams needed based on your lifestyle, familial history, body weight and height, and the symptoms you experience with regards to your sight. If you feel such symptoms, like blurry vision, dryness, watery eyes, itchy eyes, floaters, light sensitivity or photo phobia, or sudden attack of temporary blindness. Go to your Doctor right away, and he/she will show the bright way. Do this not, and you’ll be sorry.
The nerves of our eyes are directly connected to our brain; this is called the optic nerves. It is like a cable from a webcam connected to the laptop or desktop. If this breaks or gets cut-off, what do you think will happen? Darkness or nothing will appear on your computer screen. Our veins from our senses (sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch) are called cranial nerves, any break or weakening of these nerves will never grow back again, unlike our hairs and nails. Our cranial nerves, in fact all nerves in our Central Nervous System, are very sophisticated and sensitive, they do not have that regenerative process unlike the most parts of our anatomy.
And so, to all of you, Mr. and Ms. Millennials, start changing your perspectives and lifestyles before it’s too late. And if you happen to not be a believer of Forever, well, you got to change your mind, because if you lose your sight, it’s FOREVER.
Like this blog? Then what are you waiting for? Grab your gadgets and start sharing and commenting on this article, and show some appreciation. Plus, start spreading the love and care of your eye sight to all millennials out there. Ciao!