How Your Eyes Work & How to Keep Them Healthy

As you read this blog, your eyes are working feverishly. They are taking in bits of information and processing them non-stop. The muscles around them are working hard to move and adjust them, and as you focus more on the screen, they blink less. Those two eyes are among your bodies most impressive organs, but chances are, you rarely think about them. They seem to work so effortlessly that you’d probably never imagine how incredible they really are.

How Your Eyes and Brain Work Together

Think for a moment of all the amazing things those eyes allow you to do, of all the beauty they allow you to take in. Furthermore, consider that 80% of all that you learn is directly connected to your vision, and you will realize just how important they really are. Did you know that they process about 36,000 pieces of information every hour? Their job is never really done. Even as you sleep, you go through a cycle of rapid eye movement (REM) when most of your dreaming occurs and larger, voluntary muscle groups undergo paralysis.

How the Body Supports Your Eyes

To function so skillfully, your eyes require a lot of support. They are aided by the brain, external eye muscles, your tear ducts, eyelids, and even your eyelashes. All of these parts coordinate to keep the eyes protected and in top working order. Thanks to this incredible support system, what could be a very vulnerable area is amazingly resilient.

How to Protect Your Eyes from Disease

Surprisingly, despite this incredible resiliency, there are an estimated 285 million people in the world who are blind or visually impaired. Astoundingly, 80% of these cases could have been prevented or even cured with proper eye care. While our eyes may be among the human body’s most capable and complex organs, they still require maintenance. Unfortunately, because they are so skilled at what they do, they are often overlooked when it comes to regular exams.

The American Optometric Association recommends that all individuals between the ages of 6 – 60 have an eye exam every two years and that those over the age of 60 see their optometrist annually.

Those of us here at Eye Specialists of Louisiana are passionate about your eye health and the quality of care that you receive.