World Sight Day and White Cane Awareness Day- Eye Infections symptoms, and caring for Eye Health - Gigadocs - Online Appointment with Best Doctors

From the minute we wake up until we close our eyes to sleep, our eyes are at work. They take in huge volumes of information about the world around us and send it to the brain for processing. Our eyes are delicate organs—the eyeballs are covered in the eye socket of the skull. The eyelids and eyelashes shield the visible portion of the eye, preventing dust, and damaging bright light. Tears also protect the eyes by moistening them and cleaning out dirt, dust, and other irritants that slip past the eyelashes and eyelids’ defenses. Tears also aid in the prevention of infection.

Eye Health

Nearly everyone will have an eye health problem at some point in their lives. However, more than a billion people do not have access to eye care.

Eye health relates to overall wellness. Hence its importance cannot be taken for granted. Follow these easy steps to keep your eyes healthy farther into your golden years:

Adopting a healthy lifestyle- Maintaining a healthy lifestyle will help you avoid a lot of eye ailments. A healthy lifestyle comprises eating well and practicing good behaviors. Good nutrition is typically the most critical step in weight control. It checks the progress of obesity and disease prevention, such as hypertension and diabetes, which impact eye health. Here’s a table that shows which nutrients influence eye health:

Nutrients that help in maintaining Eye Health
Nutrient	Food Sources	Effect on the Eyes
Vitamin A	Green leafy vegetables, Spinach, Eggs, Sweet Potato, Orange color vegetables like carrot, pumpkin.	Supports cornea health, the front portion, and retina, and the inner layer of the eye.
Vitamin C	Citrus fruits like Oranges, Lemons.	Delays age-related cataracts, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD)
Vitamin E	Almonds, Avocados.	Delays age-related cataracts, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD)
Omega 6 + Omega 3 (Essential Fatty Acids)	Coldwater fish	Lowers the dry eyes risk, supports retina health, and the inner layer of the eye.
Lutein + Zeaxanthin	Dark leafy vegetables like green peas, spinach, broccoli	Delays age-related cataracts, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD)
Zinc	Beans and Legumes	Supports retina health.

Protect your eyes: While living a healthy lifestyle can help you avoid a range of eye problems, it’s also essential to safeguard and care for your eyes. The threats range from direct sunlight to job accidents to prolonged screen time at home. So, what can you do to guard your vision?

Maintain a Healthy Workplace: If your job requires you to be exposed to harmful chemicals, radiation, flying particles, or extreme heat, you must wear protective eyewear as prescribed by occupational standards and guidelines.
Clean your cosmetics: It is essential to maintain good care and cleaning regimen with the use of make-up and eye cosmetics as these can induce issues such as dryness of the ocular surface to allergic reactions.
Use gadgets intelligently: Now that the use of gadgets has become an integral part of all our lives, it is important to cut down on screen time and take regular breaks to avoid symptoms such as eye strain, headache, dry eyes, and musculoskeletal issues, all of which come under what is referred to as computer vision syndrome or digital eye strain.

What is the 20-20-20 rule for Eye Health- The 20-20-20 rule is a good and effective pattern for relieving eye strain from lengthy periods of staring at screens. For every 20 minutes spent in front of a screen, take a 20-second break and look away at something 20 feet away.

Go for regular eye examinations– All of us should get our eyes examined once every two years. Do plan for an annual eye-health examination if-
- If you have Diabetes or Hypertension
- History of chronic smoking
- If you are already wearing spectacles and your eye power is high (High myopia)
- Some red flags for an emergency eye examination would include (but are not limited to) seeing flashes of lights, sudden blurring or loss of vision, redness, eye pain, seeing colored rings around light.

Make eye health a priority: Ascertain that eye exam are included in your regular medical checkups.

Eye Infections | World Sight Day

This World Sight Day, (observed on the second Thursday of October) aims to raise awareness about eye health and to recognizes the work done by the thousands of ophthalmologists across the world to fix vision impairment. Also known as

‘World Eye Day’ or ‘World Vision Day’ is an international day of awareness aimed at drawing attention to and urging everyone to consider the importance of their eyesight. #LoveYourEyes is this year’s focus, and it’s all about being conscious of your eye health.

The white cane is an essential tool for blind people since it allows them to live a complete and independent life, helping them move freely and safely from one location to another, whether at work, school, or in our communities.

Eye Problems | White Cane Awareness Day The National Federation of the Blind observes the White Cane Awareness Day on October 15th annually to celebrate the achievements of people who are blind or visually impaired. The white cane serves as more than just a tool. It also symbolizes the independence of blind people all around the world.

Canes for the Blind:

Support cane: This cane provides physical stability and can identify someone who is blind or has impaired vision. A support cane should be heavy enough to support the weight of the blind. Besides, it must have a non-slip tip that grips the floor.

Probing crane: A Probing Cane (also known as a “White Cane” or “Long Cane”) must be lightweight, have a tip that can easily slide along the ground, and be long enough to reach ahead and warn of obstructions and stairs.