Visual Health

Everything you need to know about your eye care. Maintaining good visual health will allow you to process 90% of the information you receive daily.

Visual Health: All for eye care

Everything you need to know about your eye care. Maintaining good visual health is essential for your quality of life, as it allows you to efficiently process 90% of the information you receive daily from the environment.

What is visual health and why is it so important for your well-being?

To understand what visual health is, we must go beyond the simple ability to see clearly. It is defined as the optimum anatomical and functional integrity of the optical system, which allows the individual to interact with their environment efficiently, comfortably and without limitations.

Full visual health means that processes such as accommodation, convergence and ocular motility work in perfect synergy to process stimuli without generating adverse symptoms, such as ocular fatigue, headaches or dizziness.

The importance of visual health transcends the eye environment, as it directly impacts on three critical dimensions of human beings:

  • Cognitive and preventive dimension: The visual system is, in essence, an extension of the central nervous system. A thorough review allows early detection of abnormalities not only of the eye (such as glaucoma or macular degeneration), but also systemic, including high blood pressure or diabetes, which are usually manifested prematurely in the microvasculature of the retina.
  • Performance and quality of life: A healthy visual system drastically reduces cognitive burden. When vision is poor, the brain must invest additional resources in "deciphering" blurred images, which results in premature mental exhaustion and a decrease in employment or academic performance.
  • Security and autonomy: Visual acuity, peripheral field and contrast sensitivity are decisive for biophysical security. From driving vehicles to preventing falls in advanced ages, maintaining a functional vision is the pillar of personal autonomy.

Care Guide: How to maintain good visual health

Ergonomics and visual health in the digital age

To find out how to maintain good visual health in an environment dominated by overexposure to digital devices, it is imperative to implement visual hygiene protocols that mitigate the Computer Visual Syndrome (SVI).

The importance of visual health in the workplace and academia depends directly on these habits:

  • Rule 20-20-20: This exercise of relaxation is vital to reduce accommodative stress. When focusing objects at 6 metres (20 ft) for 20 seconds every 20 minutes, we allow the ciliary muscle to relax, preventing the appearance of stenopia and functional myopia.
  • Optimization of lighting and contrast: To ensure good visual health, ambient lighting must be similar to the intensity of the screen. Direct glare or reflections on the monitor force the sphincter, causing premature fatigue. It is recommended that screens with a matt finish and sources of indirect light are used.
  • Frequency of conscious flashing: Sustained attention to monitors reduces the flashing from 20 to 5 times per minute. This commits to the renewal of the tear film, resulting in an evaporative dry eye. Encouraging voluntary blinking is one of the simplest and most effective visual health tips for keeping the cornea hydrated and transparent.

Visual revisions: An advanced diagnostic protocol

One of the most critical visual health tips is the demystification that you should only use the optic in the event of a loss of acuity. A comprehensive review in Multiópticas is a preventive medicine act that analyses eye health from a 360 ° perspective:

  • Assessment of binocular efficiency: It's not enough to see each eye separately. We analyse convergence and stereopsis (3D vision) to ensure that both eyes work in perfect coordination, avoiding reading problems and mental fatigue.
  • Tonometry and glaucoma screening: Intraocular pressure (IOP) control is essential, as glaucoma is a silent condition that can irreversibly damage the optic nerve before symptoms occur.
  • Retrenography and examination of the eye background: By direct observation of the retina, macula and optic disc, we can identify early signs of macular degeneration or vascular disorders, thus guaranteeing the importance of visual health as an indicator of systemic health.

Advanced photoprotection and interference filters

Electromagnetic radiation impacts our eye tissues daily. Understanding how to maintain good visual health means protecting yourself from harmful wavelengths:

  • Ultraviolet (UV) Spectrum Management: Sun cumulative exposure without adequate protection (high E-SPF index) speeds up the formation of cataracts and conjunctival degenerations such as the pterygion. It is essential to use lenses with total absorption filters (UV400).
  • Neutralization of blue-violet light: Selective filters in ophthalmic lenses block the high-energy light dispersed by the screens. This not only improves the sensitivity to contrast and reduces glare, but protects the circadian cycle, preventing melatonin from affecting sleep quality, an indirect factor but key to good visual health.

Prevalent pathologies and early prevention strategies

Addressing what visual health is also involves managing natural physiological changes and emerging pathologies:

  • Control of children's myopia: Myopia is already considered a visual pandemic. Using peripheral blur lenses or specialised contactology (Orto-K), it is possible to slow the growth of the eye's forward axis in children, reducing future risks of retinal detachment.
  • Management of presbyopia: From 40 to 45 years of age, the loss of elasticity of the lens is inevitable. Offering customized solutions in advanced high-definition lenses allows users to maintain their user's lifestyle without sacrificing their visual comfort.
  • Treatments for the dry eye: Given the increasing incidence of ocular dryness due to environmental factors, the use of artificial tears without preservatives and the hygiene of the eyelids are consolidated as essential visual health tips to protect the eye surface.

External factors and eye nutrition

The luteal macula, responsible for the high-resolution central vision, requires specific pigments that the body does not synthesize itself. To strengthen visual health, diet must include:

  • Lutein and Zeaxanthine: Present in green leafy vegetables; They act as "internal sunglasses."
  • Omega-3 fatty acids: Essential for the structure of photoreceptor cells and the quality of tears.

Paediatric Visual Health: A pillar of learning

80% Of learning in the school stage occurs through the eyes. The detection of abnormalities such as amblyopia ("lazy eye") or strabismus before the age of 7 is a determinant factor for the minor's neurological development.

Promoting outdoor activities is one of the tips for children's visual health, which is more supported by current scientific evidence to prevent the progression of myopia.