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Healthy Tips to Take Care of Your Eyes

Using the same eyeballs everyday, it can be difficult to understand when things are getting worse. Vision slowly blurs over time, or peripheral sight disappears, gradually closing in on you year after year.

But you’re not alone. Approximately 2.2 billion people have some kind of vision impairment, according to the World Health Organization, and almost half of these cases are considered preventable and worsen due to lack of treatment.

Here are some tips to help you stay on top of your eye health.

See your eye doctor regularly.

While most people with vision loss or impairment are over 50, vision changes can happen at any age. People with hypertension, diabetes, a family history or certain ethnicities, you may be more likely to experience certain eye diseases.

Annual eye exams aren’t a guarantee against eye problems, but they can help to detect, prevent and treat eye ailments before they get worse.

Also, if you have prescription eyewear, regular doctor visits allow you and your doctor to keep your prescriptions updated, which reduces eye strain. However, regular appointments are important even when your eyes seem healthy, because only a professional can detect certain eye and vision changes.

Wear eye protection.

It’s a good idea to wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from UV exposure and the elements during outdoor activities. You should also consider eye protection during sports, yardwork and home improvement projects.

Maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Leading a healthy lifestyle can also help you maintain healthy eyes. Some good practices are limiting your screen time, eating a healthy diet and keeping your hands and eyes clean. If you smoke, it could also benefit your eyes if you quit smoking.

If you have questions about how your health insurance covers eye problems and where vision insurance can fill in the gaps, please reach out to us for help.

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Don't Skip Your Preventive Health Care

Life is unpredictable: Marathoners can fall ill with respiratory viruses, and nonsmokers can still get cancer.

But do those outcomes mean you shouldn’t bother with preventive care?

That shouldn’t be the takeaway. Many people get physical and mental health benefits from taking control of their well-being where possible. Here are some basics everyone should prioritize.

Annual Physical

A yearly medical evaluation may help you catch issues early when you may not have noticed something was wrong. During your physical, the doctor will:

• Listen to your lungs and heart.
• Check your nose, throat, eyes and ears.
• Order and review bloodwork.
• Answer any questions you have about your health.
• Recommend vaccinations, boosters and screening tests.

Your physician can also refer you to specialists for issues they can’t treat and help you renew prescriptions where necessary.

Dental X-Rays and Cleanings

Twice-daily brushing and flossing correctly can limit the number of fillings and crowns you need. But even with great, consistent dental hygiene practices, you still need a professional cleaning and exam once or twice a year. Your dentist can also screen you for issues and ensure your medications or health problems aren’t harming your teeth and gums.

Annual Eye Exam

Clear vision can help you avoid injuries and car accidents, not to mention read the scoreboard at sporting events. Your eye doctor can also screen you for several cancers and problems that can lead to pain and blindness, like glaucoma and cataracts.

Preventive health care isn’t fun, and it takes time. But in the long run, it can keep you from getting seriously ill — and give you more time to enjoy your favorite people and activities.

If you need help understanding how your health insurance covers preventive care, reach out to get a walk-through of your policy.

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5 Common Options for Life Insurance

How much do you know about life insurance?

Whether you already have life insurance or are thinking about getting it, understanding the different types can help you pick the right policy.

Here’s a brief explanation of five common kinds of life insurance and why someone might choose each one.

Term

Term policies pay death benefits if you pass away during a certain time frame — usually 10, 20 or 30 years. You might buy term life insurance if you want to protect your partner or children from the risk of losing your income during your working years.

Whole

Also called permanent life insurance, whole life covers you for your entire life. You might want a permanent policy if your heirs need to pay off your home, buy out your share of a business or pay estate taxes. Whole life also accumulates cash value that can fund a loan or additional insurance.

Burial (or Final Expense)

These are essentially small whole-life insurance policies. You might want a burial or final expense policy if you need $50,000 or less of permanent life insurance to help your family cover your funeral and burial, medical bills and consumer debts after you pass.

‍Universal

‍Like whole life, universal life is a permanent policy that accumulates cash value. It could be a good choice if you want flexible premium payments and death benefits; however, it doesn’t offer the guaranteed cash value accumulation that comes with whole life insurance.

Variable

‍Variable life insurance offers a permanent death benefit and cash value. In addition, it offers an investment account. You might choose this type of policy if you’re comfortable taking investment risks that could increase or decrease your policy’s value.

End-of-life planning is essential to help avoid financial hardship for your loved ones. Get in touch if you’d like to discuss what type of life insurance policy may be right for you.

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What to Know About Plants and Your Health

Here’s a fun experiment to start the new year: Get a few houseplants and see if they make you feel better.

There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence — and some weak scientific evidence — that indoor greenery may improve your mental and physical health.

Interested in what effects plants could have? Here are some common houseplant hypotheses.

Lower Stress Levels

There’s nothing like a peaceful walk in the park to take a break from the grind and boost your mood. But indoor plants might be the next best thing since we can’t always get outside due to weather, physical limitations or location.

A finicky plant could add more stress to your life, though. Choose one that’s easy to care for — perhaps a snake plant, aloe vera or pothos.

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Boost the Immune System

The soil your potted plant grows in might sneakily nourish you. But how?

Your intestinal tract contains microorganisms that keep you healthy, and increasing the diversity of those microorganisms may be a key to better well-being. It’s possible that more contact with soil (which modern city-dwellers are often lacking) could be good for you. Scientists are researching this and other hypotheses as part of the Human Microbiome Project.

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Create Cleaner Air

You probably learned in school that plants clean the air through photosynthesis and respiration. This process may somewhat improve air quality indoors, depending on the pollutant.

But the number of plants you’d need to reduce volatile organic compounds in your home would require you to turn it into a nursery. If indoor air quality is a concern, consider an artificial air purifier.

Do you have questions about your health or life insurance? Reach out anytime.