womens eye health 0

April is Women’s Eye Health and Safety Month. At Kirk Eye Center, we’d like to take this opportunity to educate women on ways they can keep their eyes healthy and reduce their risk of age-related vision conditions.

According to Prevent Blindness, women are more likely to experience vision problems than men. There are several reasons why this phenomenon occurs:

  • Longer life expectancy
  • More likely to receive certain cancer treatments that can negatively impact vision
  • More susceptible to autoimmune diseases
  • Experience age-related hormone changes that often impact the eyes

In spite of these risks, Prevent Blindness estimates that 25% of women haven’t received an eye exam in over two years, and only 10% of women understand that they are at greater risk of developing age-related eye conditions than men. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to protect your eyes and minimize your risk of vision loss.

Important Eye Health Practices for Women

The following tips will help you maintain optimal eye health:

  • Get an annual eye exam – Routine dilated eye exams will ensure any vision conditions are detected in their earliest stages, which is crucial to minimizing vision loss. In addition, these exams can identify certain general heath issues such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.
  • Eat a vegetable-rich diet – Spinach, broccoli, kale and other dark, leafy green vegetables contain antioxidants that protect your eyes from conditions such as cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.
  • Don’t smoke – Smoking can increase your risk of age-related macular degeneration, cataracts and optic nerve damage.
  • Use eye makeup safely – Always remove eye makeup at night. Sleeping with it on can clog tear ducts or cause dirt and bacteria to be trapped in your eye, resulting in scratches and infections. Discard eye makeup past its expiration date to avoid allergic reactions, eye irritation and infection. You should also avoid sharing your eye makeup with others.
  • Wear sunglasses – Excessive exposure to the sun’s UV rays can increase your risk of age-related vision conditions. Make sure you wear sunglasses that block 99-100% of UVA and UVB rays whenever you’re outside.
  • Care for contact lenses properly – If you wear contact lenses, follow the recommended process for cleaning, removing and replacing them. Poor contact lens hygiene can result in corneal scarring.

Contact our Loveland Eye Doctors

Please contact Kirk Eye Center using the form on this page or call 970-408-3263 today to schedule an eye exam. We serve patients in Loveland, Fort Collins and throughout Northern Colorado.

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Please note Kirk Eye Center will be closed Monday, July 3rd and Tuesday, July 4th! We will re-open on Wednesday, July 5th.

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