Although men and women have a lot in common, there are a few differences when it comes to eyesight and vision health.

Men have some advantages women lack, such as lower risk for eye diseases in general, but they also some disadvantages women don’t have to worry as much about. Let’s take a look at the main ones.
 

Seeing The World Differently

It turns out that men and women don’t actually process visual information the same. Men are better than women at spotting fine details and rapid movement, but fall behind when it comes to distinguishing colors. Some theorize that this difference has its roots in the hunter-gatherer days when men did most of the hunting and women did most of the foraging. The ability to spot game at a distance would have been a significant advantage in hunting.

Men aren’t just at a slight disadvantage when it comes seeing the differences between colors; men are also sixteen times as likely to be colorblind. So when couples argue over color swatches, they might literally not be seeing the same colors!
 

Eyesight And Hormones

Beginning in puberty, hormones cause many significant changes, and that even includes the way the eyes grow! Some teenage boys become temporarily nearsighted as their eyes grow longer, and sometimes this nearsightedness is permanent. Fortunately, this can easily be corrected with contacts or glasses.
 

Real Men Remember Their Safety Glasses

Because men in general are more likely to play dangerous sports and do labor-intensive work than women, they tend to be at greater risk of accidental eye injury. What makes this even worse is that men are also more likely to forego protective gear than women, and the end result is that men suffer nearly three times as many eye injuries as women. Make sure you remember your protective eyewear!
 

Maintaining Healthy Vision

Aside from wearing the right protective gear, there is plenty men can do to stay pro-active about eye health. A healthy diet isn’t just great for your overall health; it’s also good for your vision. Your eyes will thank you for incorporating foods like spinach, kale, tuna, salmon, eggs, nuts, and citrus fruits into your meals because they are rich in vitamins A and C and omega-3 fatty acids!

If you spend a lot of time staring at a computer screen for work, remember to give your eyes regular breaks to minimize your risk of eye strain. An easy way to remember this is following the 20-20-20 rule: every twenty minutes, spend twenty seconds focusing on something twenty feet away!
 

We Look Forward To Seeing You!

If there’s ever something wrong or unusual about your vision, don’t just tough it out, because eye problems don’t usually go away on their own. Make an appointment right away so we can make sure it isn’t a serious issue. In the meantime, don’t forget to schedule your yearly eye exams!
 

Keep up those healthy vision habits!

Top image used under CC0 Public Domain license. Image cropped and modified from original.

The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.