How to Ensure Quality Eye Care through Protection from Pollution

Ritika Rastogi, July 2016

Pollution is a huge menace and has been seen to work as a catalyst when it comes to infection and diseases which impact eye health on a vicious scale. This is why proper eye care is a must if you wish to protect your eyes from a variety of ailments.

Air Pollution is amongst the top five causes of variety of eye ailments as seen in all age groups. This rise in pollution can often lead irritating and vicious eye irritation leading to redness of the eyes, watery eyes and burning sensation. This is mainly caused by the availability of pollutants consisting of nitric oxide, sulphur and nitrogen dioxide present in the air that mainly causes the irritation to the eyes.

In order to ensure adequate eye care, one needs to ensure a clean air surrounding. Here are some familiar yet important parameters which can make a difference:

  • Avoid rubbing your eyes even if particulates enter them
  • Wash your eyes thoroughly with water
  • Apply a cool compress to help reduce inflammation
  • Lubricating eye drops prescribed by eye specialists can also offer comfort
  • Wear sunglasses while outdoors
  • Avoid wearing contact lens and eye makeup if your eyes are feeling sore
  • The first line of defence in reducing infection is to limit exposure to pollution
  • Eat a healthy diet comprising of salads and vegetables like carrots
  • Drink ample amount of water
  • Quit smoking
  • Avoid passive smoking
  • Avoid visiting industrialised areas where pollution levels are high and air quality is at dangerous levels
  • Close the car windows during peak traffic hours and try to turn off the car as it can reduce the release of pollutants
  • Practice good hygiene such as washing hands frequently, especially after you’ve been in a public place
  • For proper eye care, install a high quality air filter or air purifier system at home to help protect your eyes from various diseases caused by air pollution

Read more about our work

What we do
Sightsavers blog

Food for Eyes

How often have we been randomly advised to have a fair amount of vegetables for better eyesight? But is that going to be sufficient for maintaining healthy eyes? Let’s find out!

Ritika Rastogi, July 2018
Sightsavers blog

Smog Not Just Affects your Lungs, But Can Harm Your Eyes Too

Seeing is believing and what you get to see these days is no hogwash...

Ritika Rastogi, November 2016
Sightsavers blog

Ensuring Proper Eye Care - Avoiding “Mascary” Situations with Makeup

We’ve all done it at one time or another, when applying mascara we get a little too close to our eyeballs with the application tip and the result is a teary, black mess.

Ritika Rastogi, September 2016