4 Ways To Improve Your Eye Sight

If you find yourself squinting so hard like the sun is in your face and so often when trying to read or make something out that you have wrinkles in that space between your eyes, it may be time to look into ways to correct your vision. It may be a little too late at that point to try and load up on some carrots. According to scientificamerican.com¹, under certain conditions, eating carrots will help improve eyesight, commonly attributed to the high amounts of vitamin A the vegetable carries. When we were younger, we were told to eat our carrots more times than we’d like to admit. But there was no way we were eating carrots if it was dipped in sugar. So inadvertently, our eyesight may have suffered a little bit. To be transparent, vision also suffers due to many other contributing factors including inheriting bad eyesight from your family. So sometimes, it is just unavoidable.

We don’t do ourselves any favors by being glued to our electronic devices. According to yoursightmatters.com², there are short, high-energy waves emitted from our devices that can cause anything from eye discomfort called digital eye strain to retinal damage. We exasperate the situation when the first thing we do in the morning, generally in the dark is check our phones, and the last thing we do before we go to bed, most likely again in the dark, is check out our phones. This intense focus on bright and invisible light rays wreak havoc on attentions spans as well as vision.

If you are one of the many Americans who need corrective vision assistance, many of us do not keep up with our prescriptions. Meaning it is recommended to have a comprehensive eye exam every one to two years, depending on your age, risk-factors and whether you currently wear corrective lenses according to allaboutvision.com.³ However, many do not get their vision prescription updated and go on using an older prescription. This is going to have an adverse effect on your vision, making your vision worse over time. Your eyes will strain to make up the slight difference in prescription, causing long term deterioration. Our eyes will change as we age and it’s imperative to stay on top of prescriptions if you wear prescription lenses.

There are many alternatives to prescription lenses. You no longer have to be handcuffed to your glasses or contact lenses. With the advancement in technology, changes are seen in the medical sector that benefits average patients. Previously, highly technological advanced procedures were reserved for the wealthy, but advancements have made it more affordable for everyone else. Now, people have the option to use lasers to assist in their vision correction. Though this sounds very intimidating, the technology has been around for more than 20 years and has advanced tremendously.

It’s important to do your own research to make sure which procedures are available today and which would best fit your lifestyle. Lasik is trendy, but it may not be right for you. Some people with certain eye conditions may not be great candidates for this procedure, but there may alternative procedures out there. Here are a few options that’ll lift you from the dependency on eye glasses.

1. Contact Lenses

Contact lenses are one of the easiest, fastest ways to improve your vision. You will have instant gratification by purchasing lenses. You can either go for disposable plastic lenses, or you can purchase harder lenses that are meant to last much longer. Whatever every vision challenges you face, you can generally have a prescription filled for contact lenses. If you wear glasses, contact lenses are great to use in conjunction. From a fashion perspective, you can change up your look from sexy librarian to super model. When you are done with the lenses, or they’ve ran their course, you just dispose of them and reorder. You may want to just get an order for the year. You’ll save money that way and once your odder is gone, it’ll serve as a great reminder to get your eyes rechecked to confirm your prescription hasn’t changed.

Sometimes, your insurance company will either cover the cost of your contacts, or copay with you to help you save a little bit more money. You can also save money by buying in bulk.

2. Lasik

Lasik eye surgery is the permanent solution to correcting vision. In its infancy stages, people were leery of the procedure. No one wants to be the first to try out a new surgical procedure. They are still working out the kinks and perfecting the technology.

Since Lasik has exploded on the scene, the technology has become far more advanced with far less adverse reactions. More and more people are turning to Lasik for the vision correction. They have dialed the procedure in to be an outpatient procedure that only takes about 15-20 minutes for both eyes.

The advancements made in the procedure also contributed to lower costs for the procedure. You can essentially get your vision corrected for about $2K per eye. If you do the math on how much over time you’d spend on glasses and contact lenses, you may save more money by going for the procedure. The healing time can be a few days to a few weeks. Most have reported immediate improvement in their vision.

3. Implantable Lenses

A little known alternative to Lasik and contact lenses is implantable lenses. You can opt for a procedure that surgically places the lens behind the iris, or directly on top of the iris. Your vision professional will complete an assessment and determine which the appropriate procedure is for you.

Because it’s a more invasive procedure, the cost goes up a bit. You will come out of pocket from $3K to $5K. This procedure is not covered by insurance, so the financial burden will fall solely on you.

4. Cataract Surgery

Cataract are more challenging to treat and you can’t go with the same options as some who is looking to correct generally poor vision. Cataracts are difficult to treat, but cataract surgery generally produces great results. You may improve your eyesight a little bit, but not if the underlying issue that caused your cataracts to persist.

If you are looking for safe, alternative ways to correct your vision, take a look at these options and start seeing a brighter future.

Sources: 

1 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-carrots-improve-your-vision/

2 https://yoursightmatters.com/are-electronic-devices-affecting-my-vision/

3 https://www.allaboutvision.com/eye-exam/preparing.htm