Red eyes, blurry vision and stuff like that

I don’t know if I’m going to get to ten, and I may come back at some stage and adjust this list, but here goes.  What are the top ten things that can help preserve your vision longer term?

1. Don’t smoke, or stop smoking.  Smoking is the biggest modifiable risk factor in macular degeneration, the biggest cause of legal blindness.
2. Wear eye protection.  It only takes a second for a eye injury to occur.
3. Get your eyes checked.  Some eye conditions, and especially glaucoma, don’t give symptoms until the condition is advanced and harder to treat.  Early detection and treatment is important.
4. Know your (family) history.  Find out from your parents, and older generations before it’s too late,  if there are any hereditary eye conditions in the family.
5. Try to not develop diabetes.  Diabetic eye disease is a major cause of vision loss for people of working age.
6. Take contact lenses seriously.  Follow instructions, clean them well, get any concerns checked out  right away.
7. Don’t hang around on eye symptoms.  If something feels wrong about your eyes or your vision, get it looked at.  Some conditions need immediate treatment.
8. Chemical burns in the eye need to be flushed with lots of water straight away.
9. Protect your eyes  from UV.  UV exposure has both acute  and long-term effects.
10. Take extra care over an only eye.  If you’ve only got one eye that sees well, the rest of the list above is even more important.