Vision Health: Never Too Young
Continuing with what I asked Dr. Laura Kenyon during my interview with her, the question is still “What are the mistakes people make related to retaining their vision?” Here are the rest of her answers as well as a program every parent needs to know about.
Eye Protection
The third mistake we make is not wearing eye protection when we should. Obviously you’ll want safety glasses if you’re working with a chainsaw. When you’re working with liquids such as paint, oil, and gasoline, protecting your eyes is critical then as well.
But let’s move beyond the obvious: wear safety glasses anytime you’re working in the yard. True, when you’re mowing the lawn or using the weed-whacker, eye protection makes a lot of sense. But when you bend over to pull weeds or prune trees or bushes, you might not focus on that tiny little branch that’s sticking out from the rosebush. That kind of stab or scratch can severely damage the eye.
The other is when you’re cooking. When you’re cutting foods such as onions and hot peppers, a squirt into your eye can certainly make your life miserable for a long time, even though probably not causing permanent damage. And you’ve probably heard that you shouldn’t cook bacon naked. I can tell you that you shouldn’t be without eye protection then as well. I can remember putting a piece of fish into a fryer, and in a perfect splatter, it came right from the tail end of that fish directly into my right eye. You’ll find out whether you can dance or not when that happens to you! So be sure to wear eye protection even for tasks that do not seem as obviously dangerous.
Eat Vegetables and Fruit
I was a little surprised that Dr. Kenyon said then another mistake that we all make in relation to our eyes is that we don’t eat enough vegetables with carotenoids in them such as lutein, alpha-carotene, zeaxanthin, and, of course, you probably know beta-carotene already. Those are all critical to eye health and we need some every day.
One little piece that I contributed was to mention that chopped or cooked vegetables with carotenoids will release more carotenoids than if you eat them raw. So those baby carrots (that we know really aren’t baby carrots at all), would serve you better if they were cooked and put in soup.
Never Too Young: InfantSEE™
When I said that it’s never too early to start with regular checkups, I meant it: if you’ve got a baby, it’s time to start. The InfantSEE program was started in 2005 with the support of former President Jimmy Carter. He had a grandson who was diagnosed with amblyopia, a condition that could have been easily treated had they been aware of it. The result of his effort, as well as the American Optometric Association efforts, has resulted in a free program for children six to twelve months old. The examination can identify conditions such as astigmatism, which in a single eye, can result in what we typically call lazy eye—easy to treat if you know the child has it at an early age but very difficult to treat later. You can search for a participating optometrist on the home page of InfantSEE; let’s all help spread the word to new parents.
The Bottom Line
There you have it, right from the optometrist’s mouth: the biggest mistakes we make when taking care of our eyes. Use this info to put together a list of actions you should take to keep your eyes healthy throughout your life.
If you live in the Grand Rapids area, Dr. Kenyon and her practice is taking new patients. The contact information is below (2). Also, for all Members and Insiders, I’ll be posting parts of the interview in the members section after it plays in Grand Rapids.
What are you prepared to do today?
Dr. Chet
References:
1. www.infantsee.org
2. West Michigan Eyecare Associates. https://wmeyecare.com 616-949-8500.
