Happy International Women’s Day! As you celebrate all the great things about being female today, take a moment to remember your eyes. What? Yes, your eyes! They aren’t just the deep mysterious pools to your soul, they are a very key organ to living your best life and kicking butt in this big bad world.

As women, and mums, we often are the unofficial triage nurses of our families. We make sure everyone else is healthy and happy and often leave ourselves till the end. This includes our own eye care.

As most of us are parents of kids with vision issues, we are so focused on their eyes that sometimes we forget to think about our own. It’s not until they start to bother us that we may even take notice, which of course may mean it’s too late. Here’s a few good reasons not to forget about your eyes!

Women live longer

Did you know that women have more eye problems than men? This is attributed to the fact that we live longer, and hence have more life long strain and damage to our eyes. Our eyes are therefore more susceptible to disease and damage such as age related macular degeneration, cataracts and glaucoma. We outlive men, so we automatically need to take better care of our peepers.

Hormones

If it’s not one thing, it’s the other, with hormones. They seem to wreak havoc on us throughout our whole lives, and our eye sight does not miss out. Dry eye is a big one. According to Your Sight Matters, dry eye affects twice as many women as men. Women can experience dry eye throughout pregnancy and then again in menopause. Long term dry eye can cause strain on your eyes. See a doctor if you think your dry eye has been going on too long.

What you put on your face

You may not think about it but the stuff you put on your face, especially around and near your eyes does affect your eyes. Think of how many times you have jabbed yourself in the eyeball while applying mascara or when your eye liner has dipped a bit too far into your lens. Moisturisers, sun creams, face masks, they are all products we are trying to use to help ourselves out, but we have to be mindful of what we are putting near our eyes. Making sure you take make up off at night so that nothing creeps into your eyeballs is a must. While we’re talking about faces, don’t forget about hats and sun glasses. The UV is high in Australia, year round. UV damage to your eyes is avoidable, just be sure while you are slip slop slapping, to throw the sunnies on too.

Our Health

This applies to men and women but can’t be left off the list as, stated above, we often make sure the rest of the family is cared for and then give ourselves the scraps. Ladies, we must take care of ourselves. Women often find themselves with high blood pressure, diabetes and migraines, all of which are linked to eye problems. According to Vision Australia, some of the main causes of cataracts are smoking, diabetes, and not wearing protective eye gear in the sun. Women, don’t forget about yourselves. Eat healthy, exercise, protect your eyes and book a regular eye check to make sure your eyes are still 20/20.

We are what we eat

In line with our health, our nutrition is paramount. Did you know you can eat for proper eye health? You can and it’s not very hard. The Macular Disease Foundation of Australia even has a cook book, written by foundation partner Ita Buttrose, which you can find here. It’s simple though, just put good wholesome food into your body. Your eyes are an important part of your body and they need nutritious fuel too.

Eye pain, strain, and focus problems are all signs we have put our eye health on the back burner. Women are strong and powerful and can change the world, but we need to take care of ourselves, and that includes our eyes. Take the reins in your life and set a good example for the women and girls in your life. Eye tests can be bulk billed in Australia and don’t take more than an hour.

If we’re going to live longer than men, we might as well be able to see it happen.

Happy International Women’s Day!