of going to see the doctor when symptoms present themselves would be very appropriate. And because you are an intelligent, rational person, you would seek care.
Unfortunately there are many people out there that do not take those appropriate steps and continue to abuse their eyes until they can no longer handle the pain...and that's when they finally come in to see the eye doctor, often times with corneal ulcers which result in scarring which can result in permanent vision loss. It's really sad.