You’re protecting your eyes from the sun, but do you know about these other dangers?

“Although some causes of vision loss can’t be prevented, many can be avoided by taking simple precautions,” says Jeffrey Goshe, M.D., an ophthalmologist at Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute.

Here’s how to protect yourself from activities that can endanger your eyes.

1. Stop eating too much junk food

Here’s another reason to live by the “everything in moderation” advice of many experts: Too much junk food may affect your sight. A 2019 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine reported that it happened to a teenage boy. The teen’s steady diet of potato chips, french fries and deli meat deprived his body of some of the essential vitamins and nutrients for eye health (called “nutritional optic neuropathy,” a form of malnutrition), including vitamin B12, vitamin A, iron, calcium, magnesium and copper. At 17, he was declared legally blind.

While this boy’s vision issue is extreme, good nutrition matters for all of us: Eating foods high on the glycemic index (like refined starches and sugars) could contribute to the development of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in adults over 60, according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

2. Clean your contact lenses thoroughly

Dirty contacts can cause severe eye infections, like Acanthamoeba or fungal keratitis, or other chronic damage. That’s why you should always rub your lenses even if you use a “no-rub” solution to clean and disinfect, says Goshe. This helps clear them of proteins from your tears, dust, pollen and other particles.

3. Don’t use old mascara

It may look and smell OK, but using too-old mascara puts you at risk for a serious eye infection. Although usually safe when you first purchase it, the tube—which is dark and moist inside—offers bacteria a friendly breeding ground and may put you at risk for an infection (at best) or temporary or permanent blindness (at worst). To keep your eyes safe, toss your mascara after three months, say experts. And never share with family or friends or use a communal tester at a beauty counter.

4. Don’t ignore flashes or floaters

Almost everyone has the occasional floater, which is not the sign of a problem, says Craig See, M.D., an ophthalmologist at Cleveland Clinic. Those specks, transparent threads or cobweb-like images that drift across the line of vision are usually caused by age-related changes or conditions such as diabetes, inflammation in the back of your eye or bleeding in your eye. Though painless, they’re not always harmless: A sudden increase in floaters and/or blurry vision, or “flashes” usually seen in your peripheral vision (and most noticeable in the dark), could indicate a retinal tear or detachment, which can threaten your sight and cause permanent vision loss. Retinal tears or detachments are treated with surgery or lasers, but your vision will stand a better chance of recovery if you act fast.

5. Don’t hang around with smokers

You know that smoking or being exposed to secondhand smoke can cause heart disease and lung cancer, but did you know it could harm your sight too? Smokers have three to four times the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD) than nonsmokers. Smoking also increases the risk of cataracts. If you smoke 15 or more cigarettes a day, your chance of developing cataracts, which can cloud and impair your vision, is three times greater than that of a nonsmoker.

6. You need to wear safety glasses

Fact: Almost half of all eye injuries happen at home. That’s why it’s important for anyone using tools, machinery, landscaping equipment or anything capable of creating high-velocity projectiles (and that includes opening a champagne bottle and cooking with oil or grease!) to wear protective eyewear to prevent injuries, says Goshe. Surveys show that only 35 percent of people wear protective eyewear while doing home repairs or projects, yet taking this simple step goes a long way: Wearing it can prevent 90 percent of eye injuries. Tip: Bystanders are at risk too, especially small children or grandchildren who stand by watching others mow or cook.

7. Do not fly after eye issues or surgery

Though it’s usually OK to fly after most eye surgeries, head’s up if you’ve had retina repair surgery. That’s because the surgery often involves having a gas bubble injected into the eye to hold the retina in place while it’s healing. Air pressure changes that occur with flying can cause the bubble to expand, which is dangerous and could potentially cause blindness or other serious damage. Experts advise staying at about the same altitude as your surgery until the gas bubble is fully absorbed by your eye, which takes about three weeks. (If silicone oil is used, there generally are no restrictions.)