Ashe about your health: Regular eye exams and dilation necessary to good health

From time to time, Dr. David Baron, executive director at the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center, will ask other health experts at the Ashe Center to host the column and answer student questions.

Congratulations on being a part of UCLA. Welcome to countless hours of reading and staring at the computer, not including the hours of playing on the computer or texting. What can you do to help your eyes?

Your ocular health and prescription for your eyes are determined by your genetics and how well you take care of your eyes. Since there’s nothing we can do about our genetic makeup, let’s concentrate on the things we can do to take care of our eyes.

First, you should take an eye exam regularly.

Just because you can see the tiniest print on the PowerPoint presentation from the back of classroom, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your eyes are healthy and you don’t need glasses. The American Optometric Association recommends everyone between the ages of 18 to 60 years old get their eyes checked at least once every two years. Checking your vision at the Department of Motor Vehicles, or the DMV, doesn’t count. Those who wear contact lenses, have had eye surgery, take prescription or non-prescription medications with ocular side effects, or have diabetes, high blood pressure, or a family history of eye conditions should take eye exams at least once a year.

Also, get your eyes dilated. That’s the only way to truly access the health of the inside of your eyes. Imagine examining a room by looking through the peephole on a door. The view is extremely limited. By dilating the eyes, we’re opening the door to the room to ensure your eyes are healthy. This should be done every other year unless you have other health issues that warrant more frequent dilations. We can see diabetes, high blood pressure, holes and tears in the retina and in some instances even tumors in the eye. Ideally, we’d like to see a healthy eye, but unless you get it checked, we will never know what lurks in there.

Additionally, try to take breaks when staring at the computer for long periods of time.

Do you get eyestrain, headaches, blurry vision or dry eyes? This can be caused by uncorrected vision problems, poor lighting, improper viewing distances or just staring at the computer for too long. Take 20-second breaks for every 20 minutes of reading. Blink your eyes frequently to keep the front surface of your eyes moist when using the computer. Anti-reflective coatings on glasses can minimize computer glare.

Another way to take care of your eyes is to get a good pair of sunglasses.

We’ve been told to lather ourselves with suntan lotion whenever we go outside. Let’s not forget ultraviolet protection and wide-brim hats for our eyes as well, because UV damage can cause cancer around and on the eyes, cataracts, macular degeneration and a whole bunch of not-so-nice things without us even realizing it. Don’t just wait until it’s sunny to put on your sunglasses. Cloudy days also expose us to a lot of UV light. Look for sunglasses that have labels saying they block 99 to 100 percent of UVA and UVB, both of which are types of ultraviolet light.

You only have two eyes to last you the rest of your life. Take good care of them and they’ll take good care of you.