Here are some tips on how to look after your eyes, so that you can avoid eye health problems later on in life.
Did you know that rubbing the sleep from your eyes in the morning, or even rubbing them while you are sitting at your computer because you are tired, can give you eye cornea problems later on in life?
A swollen cornea or a distorted cornea as it is known is caused from rubbing your eyes too hard over time. If a specialist looks at your eyes sideways, eye cornea problems will show with an eyeball that bulges outwards.
The big danger of rubbing your eyes constantly could eventually deform the shape of your corneas.
The cornea is the transparent part of the eye in front that covers the iris, which is the colored part of your eye, and your pupil. A normal cornea is round in shape, but when it is damaged, the eyeball becomes oval and shows a point instead of a gradual curve.
The eyeball is made up mainly of fluid, and rubbing your eyes hard increases the pressure on this fluid inside your eye. When you rub too often, the shape of your cornea is permanently altered and this will affect your vision.
When the cornea bulges outwards, you could end up having double vision, or see things like strips in front of your eyes. Your sensitivity to light is also increased.
You may not realize how often you rub your eyes, so tell your family and friends to nag you if they see you doing this. An occasional quick rub of your eyes shouldn’t cause a problem, but you must try and become aware of long term habits that can affect the long-term health of your eyes.
Other daily activities can also cause pressure in your eyes. They include the following:
Swimming goggles, sleeping on your stomach, exercising with heavy weights, standing on your head, playing wind musical instruments and wearing mascara and not removing it properly before going to bed at night.
Look After Your Eyes – Don’t Sleep With Mascara
Did you know that you put up to ten times the extra pressure on your eyelids when you sleep with mascara – a scary thought?
Scratched cornea symptoms and damage to the cornea can be repaired by surgery or managed by wearing contact lenses, but prevention is always the best treatment.
Think about this article the next time you rub your eyes. Cornea problems can be avoided in later life.
How Do You Know If Your Cornea Is Damaged?
Depending on the cause and symptoms, corneal damage may include the following:
- Redness and swelling of the eye tissues and eyelid
- Tearing
- Blurred vision
- Irritation
- Sensitivity to light
- Sensation of something in the eye
- Eye discharge
- Milky or cloudy area on the cornea
- Vision loss
Luckily, the cornea usually heals itself after most injury or disease. However, when there is deep or continuous injury to the cornea, the healing process may be prolonged, possibly resulting in a variety of symptoms, including pain or blurred vision.
Superficial corneal abrasions tend to get better within two to three days, but some corneal abrasions may require an antibiotic ointment that stays on the eye longer, a steroid to decrease inflammation, and something to relieve pain and light sensitivity.
When Should You Protect Your Eyes?
You will want to protect your eyes when you are:
- cooking on an open flame especially if using hot or volatile liquids
- mowing your lawn especially if using a weed eater
- spraying chemicals in your garden
- doing home or car repairs
- Barbequing
- anytime you are out in the sun
- Playing sports such as tennis, baseball, basketball, and racquetball
Also remember that there are certain foods that you can eat to improve your eye health. Carrots are not the only type of food that is good for the eyes – in fact, they’re not even among the top foods that promote good eye health. Try to eat lots of green, leafy vegetables such as kale and spinach, as well as foods high in omega-3 fatty acids, such as fish.
If you look after your eyes, in the long run, they will take care of you.
For more articles about looking after your health, click here.
Beneficial info and excellent design you got here! I want to thank you for sharing your ideas and putting the time into the stuff you publish! Great work!
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful article with us.
I think the eyes are one of the most important parts of our body and the eyes are the only way to see the world. I love reading, mascaras and lenses and I am very fascinated by them.
One time I noticed my eyes were blinking and I couldn’t see everything clearly.
The doctor saw me and told me that I had this condition because of wearing mascara and lenses and that there was a problem in the eye because of excessive rubbing while working on the computer. I stopped wearing mascaras and lenses since that day. Now my eyes are much better.
There is no pain in my cornea anymore. I would like to thank you for such a wonderful study and I hope that after reading your article, everyone will be very aware of this organ and like me and will be avoiding these harmful things in the future.
Through your article I have acquired a lot of knowledge that will be very helpful in alleviating my eye health problems. And by the articles of the Spirit, I must follow the health of my eyes.
Really, I didn’t know that some of those activities listed would harm my eyes. I am guilty of rubbing my eyes vigorously because I have allergies and sometimes they itch so much. Looking at other habits, maybe I should not do the headstand at my yoga class and lessen the weights at my gym workout. I guess I can start paying attention to this by going to my annual visit to the ophthalmologist and ask her about it. Thank you for this valuable information.
Thanks for stopping by, and best to check it out with your ophthalmologist, as you can never be too careful when it comes to your eyes.
Thank you for the valuable comments. I am a serial eye rubber and most of my family members caution me all the time about not rubbing them too hard but I just normally just ignore them.
It’s certainly interesting to read about this and how it could cause cornea damage… Hmm.. My eyes get itchy and irritated often and easily. In your opinion, how should I ease the irritation and itch as it is sometimes really unbearable? I’ve tried suggestions like using eye drops and all but just doesn’t seem to work.
Hi Steve,
I used eye drops to no avail too, then I visited my optometrist and he prescribed eye drops that really worked. In other words, don’t just buy any eyedrops, get one that is suited to your particular problem via a doctor.