So, you’re heading for a trip. Maybe it’s a business trip, or maybe you are travelling for pleasure. You could be staying in a luxury apartment, or camping underneath the stars. Whatever your plan is, you need to take care of your eyes.
Quite often you will be travelling to a sunnier location. While tanning in order to get a little color is something you might be after, protecting your eyes by using sunglasses with the right UV protection is a must. Travelling usually consists of long days out there, so there’s various things that you need to keep in mind in order to ensure the best health for your eyes.
Always carry eye drops with you
When you travel, it is inevitable that your eyes are going to be exposed to various irritations and allergens. This means that it is essential that you always have your eye drops around. For example, you or your family could be spending a lot of time swimming in pools or in the sea, and their eyes are bound to get irritated. Having eye drops in handy helps relieve that irritation.
Take care of dry eyes
If you are visiting a dry and windy area, like a mountain or a desert, there’s a chance that you will have a problem with dry eyes. The reason to this is that tears vaporize much faster in places where there is low humidity. The same goes for indoor environments, such as hotels and planes, where air conditioning systems and heating take the moisture out of the air.
There are various solutions for this problem. The simplest one is to turn of the heating or air conditioning system in your room whenever you can. You can also use a humidifier to make the air in your room damper. Check out what is used in humidifiers and see what products you can get that will benefit you with your sleeping habits and eye health, one of the main components is distilled water 5l as it can be healthier than using basic tap water, looking into where you can get that from and how it can be taken with you when you travel will keep you prepared. Furthermore, you can use glasses that fit close to your face. These can be glasses with side shields, which protect your eyes from the wind. Finally, you can use artificial tears.
Think about the area you are travelling to
There are various situations where you’ll be travelling to an area where you have to worry about hygiene. You could, for example, be going camping. These are the situations when cleaning your contact lenses could be a problem. So you might have to consider using disposable ones during your travel, in order for you not to worry about them being clean and stored properly. Furthermore, avoid swimming with your contacts. This can often lead to irritation or infection from various bacteria. In addition, if you have any eye problems, you might want to consult with specialists (such as those specializing in cataract surgery melbourne) who can provide you with necessary precautionary assistance before planning out your trip.
Avoid sun exposure
According to Civilized Health, too much sun exposure can cause a number serious issues, from cataracts to growths like cancer. In order to protect your eyes from sunlight during your travel, you should use proper eye protection at all times, and avoid looking directly at the sun. You can opt for wraparound protective eyewear that protects you from sunlight on the sides. If your choice is sunglasses, make sure that they are at least 97% UVA and UVB. Be advised that just the color and the darkness of the lens don’t say anything about how protective the glasses are. You can also make use of a broad-brimmed hat.
Think ahead
If you are a senior citizen, you are probably already aware how skin loses elasticity with age. This causes a lot of excessive skin on your lower and upper eyelids. What this excess of skin does, besides giving you an old and tired looks, is affect your line of sight when it gathers on the upper eyelids. So, before long length travelling, you could consider eyelid surgery in order to make sure that your eyesight is at its best. While it is generally a cosmetic procedure, its effect on your sight can be significant.
Furthermore, you should get your (and your family’s) eyes checked before heading out. Several optometrists in your vicinity might catch your eye for this purpose, especially if they make use of optometrist marketing strategies to bring their brand to the public eye. You can just pick the one that feels the most reliable, and take your family for a checkup. This way you can be sure that everyone’s health during travel is at its best, and that any necessary prescriptions are up to date. This is particularly important for your children, as they may have a problem with their eyes that they aren’t aware of or have a problem describing. School screenings tend to miss out on a lot of children who need glasses, so you need to make sure that your kids get the dioptric that they need. Get in touch with a local ophthalmologist or LASIK vision center where you can get the needed guidance about your next step.
Protect your eyes when flying
The environment in an airplane is dry, so it can pose a problem if you are wearing contact lenses. It is a good idea to be aware of your limitations beforehand, so make sure to bring a lens cleaner with your, as well as an extra pair of contact lenses along, just to be sure. Even if you generally prefer wearing contact lenses, it might be a good idea to bring a pair of glasses with you, so that your eyes don’t get dry or irritated during the flight. It may even be possible that you find out that you are allergic to something in the given environment, and contact lenses will only make your itchy eyes get worse.
In summation
When heading out for your trip, it’s the best idea to think about where you are going beforehand, and prepare yourself accordingly. Bring the necessary eyewear with you, and don’t hesitate to bring extras just in case. Of course, make sure that you bring your eye drops along with you. When there, avoid too much sun exposure, by protecting your eyes in any possible way.