The risk for developing eye diseases raises sharply around the age of 40, and adults who are over the age of 75 have a greater prevalence of vision loss and blindness. While you don’t want to get stressed out about your eye health with each new birthday, it is important to be aware that you’ll need to focus a little more on eye care each year. As a senior citizen who is living today, you’ve many ways to keep your vision crystal clear beginning this year and beyond.

Take Care of Chronic Health Conditions

Seniors today can rest assured that they benefit from the latest advances in health care. Modern testing has made it easier to detect diabetes and heart disease early enough to prevent the conditions from affecting your vision. This does require you to be proactive by following your doctor’s orders. Checking your blood sugar and taking any prescribed medications helps to keep oxygen and nutrients flowing to your eyes.

Respond to Vision Changes Quickly

You might be able to avoid dealing with an achy ankle right away, but your eyes are a little different. Many of the early warning signs of an eye problem are also subtle enough that you might write them off at first if you don’t know what to look for. If you experience sensitivity to light, problems seeing in dim lighting, or have a reduced perception of color, you’ll want to schedule an eye exam to identify the problem.

Use Technology to Reduce the Risk of Complications

Around half of all Americans have cataracts by the time they reach the age of 75. While cataract surgery is common and has a high rate of success, there is the potential risk of having complications occur. For instance, the intraocular lens can move out of place, which requires additional treatment. Working with an eye surgeon that uses the sutureless Yamane technique can reduce your risk of having that happen.

Eat Well for Better Vision

You might’ve grown up hearing that eating carrots will help to improve visual acuity. You can’t necessarily stave off blindness by chomping on crunchy veggies, but it does help to increase your vitamin A intake. Adding kale, spinach and other leafy greens to your plate can also help you to give your eyes the nutrients they need to stay healthy as you age.

Have a Dilated Eye Exam

Eye exams can range from quick checkups to more intensive checks for serious conditions such as glaucoma. In the past, you might have had the option of having your eyes dilated, but you’ll want to do it now. Seniors may also need to increase the frequency of their eye exams. By the time you are around the age of 60, you should have a dilated eye exam annually. This provides you with more time to plan for how to address common age-related eye conditions such as cataracts or retinal neuropathy.

Aging does require you to pay a little more attention to your eye health, but it doesn’t mean that you have to accept dealing with vision loss. Make sure to work with an eye doctor in Brooklyn, NY like Empire Retina who knows how to use high-tech techniques to help you quickly address serious vision issues so that you can maintain your ability to see clearly and get the most out of life.