Diet and upkeep are two important factors in taking care of your eyes.

1. Eat lots of fruits & veggies! Carrots, loaded with beta carotene are especially helpful in maintaining healthy eyes.
2.  Using an allergen-reducing eye drop during allergy season to ‘get the red out’ and sooth itchiness may help on a limited basis, but chronic daily use can actually make the problem worse.
3. Read the labels of eye drops carefully; many drops cannot be used while wearing contacts.
4. Wear UV protective sunglasses. Get polarized lenses, NOT just darker lenses. The lenses that only make the world darker will just make your pupils dilate and don’t do a thing to stop the UV rays. Prolonged exposure to UV rays can harm your eyesight, protection in youth can help prevent loss of eyesight in later years.
5. Be sure to wear goggles or other eye protective wear when working with chemicals or any place with harmful airborne particulates.

*Tips:

• Visit your Optometrist every year. They can diagnose problems that may be fixed with glasses, contacts, or surgery. They will also check for dry eyes, problems with your retina, and even conditions of the whole body like diabetes and high blood pressure. Some conditions have no symptoms like glaucoma which can lead to total blindness if left untreated.
• Instead of using eyeglasses or contact lenses, do some research on How to Know if Lasik Eye Surgery Is for You to correct your vision. There are restrictions on who can or should get this surgery, so make sure you consult a doctor before making your decision.

Eyeglasses can completely change the way you look. Choosing the right pair is very important. You can also choose your eye glasses depending on the way you have your hair!

1. Decide on a frame. Do you want a flexible wire frame? Or maybe a more sophisticated plastic frame? Titanium? Gunmetal? Choose according to what you will use the glasses most for. For sports, choose flexible wire rims, for normal use, choose the others.
2. Choose the shape. Generally, people with oval faces should lean more towards rectangular glasses. People with more of a square face should go for the oval or circular glasses. It can also help to try to match the shape of the top of the glasses to the shape of your eyebrow.
3. Consider your eyelash length. Long eyelashes can brush against the lenses, which will be extremely uncomfortable.

Tips:

• Always have a mirror and a peer (whose fashion taste you trust and agree with) when choosing eyeglasses. This way, you and your peer can tell if they look “right.”
• For those with thicker lenses, consider a high index lens. This will reduce the thickness in the center if you’re far-sighted and on the edge if you’re nearsighted. A plastic frame will hide more of your lenses than a wire rim. Also look into getting the edges polished, which can help disguise the thickness. You can usually request to have polycarbonate lenses made with 1.0 mm thick centers (nearsighted people only) which will also reduce the thickness. You can only have this with polycarbonate.
• Anti-reflective coatings is the best option to go with, if night time glare, over head lights bother you. They also look like you have no lenses in your glasses. Any one who is on TV will wear them because of the light glare. 

Follow these guidelines for good contact lens care to extend the life of your contact lenses, and protect the safety and health of your eyes.

1. Acquire contacts by going to an eye doctor, having your eyes checked, and ordering contacts of the correct prescription.
2. Learn how to properly put in contact lenses, preferably from your doctor.
3. Learn how to properly take out contacts when removing and storing.
4. Wear your contact lenses for the proper amount of time, as prescribed by your doctor (i.e. 2 weeks, 1 month, etc.).
5. See your doctor annually to check your contact lens prescription.
6. Use a re-wetting solution or plain saline solution to keep your eyes lubricated, when need.

*Tips:

• Be patient when you first start wearing contacts. It may take a couple days for your eyes to adjust. Make sure to take them out immediately after work or school so as to give your eyes a rest.

Some people notice that they don’t have 20/20 vision at a young age. Others have their vision worsen with age. If you think your eyes are going bad, they probably are.

1. Get your eyes tested regularly by an ophthalmologist or optometrist. Once a year is standard. If any of the following are a problem, you may wish to schedule an appointment sooner.
2. Look at an object that is far away that you tend to see a lot. If it looks blurrier than you remember, or you just think you have trouble seeing things you once could see easily, your eyes probably aren’t as good as they used to be.
3. Look really closely at something. A book or newspaper will work. If you have trouble reading the print, your eyes probably aren’t as good as they used to be. But this is true only if you at one point were able to read the print, obviously.
4. If step two or three caused you to second guess your sight, go to an eyecare professional for an eye exam. They can tell you for sure if you need to start wearing glasses. If you have any doubt in your mind, go just in case.

*Tips:

• If you need glasses or contacts, find out the pros and cons of both and choose one.
• If you think your eyesight isn’t as great as it used to be, go get the eye exam. It doesn’t hurt to find out.