With all of the screens in our lives, is there any wonder that our eyes are tired all of the time? We watch television, work on computers, text on cell phones, talk on Facetime and play on video game systems — whew! I’m getting tired just listing it all.
When you couple all of that screen time with pollution from car exhausts or just looking through the windshield when you’re driving for hours, it’s no wonder that our eyesight starts to get blurry. If we keep pushing it, we’ll end up with headaches and fatigue. No wonder eyestrain is such a common complaint.
Our screens aren’t going anywhere so we need to take precautions to preserve our eyesight. Here are some tips to alleviate the strain:
- Take a break
- If you are working on a computer or doing any other type of work, which involves working your eyes at a close distance, then you need to take a break of about two minutes after every hour.
- By simply closing the eyes and doing nothing will give the eyes the much needed rest.
- Stop reading to refocus
- If you are reading continuously, it is highly advisable to take a short break after every 30 minutes and look far away into the distance.
- When you are working with your eyes close-up, there is a muscle in the eye that contracts. When you shift the focus to an object at a distance, you relieve the muscle of its strain.
- Make your computer screen eye-friendly
- When working on your computer, be sure to position it so that light doesn’t reflect on it.
- You can also try an anti-glare computer screen.
- Blink your eyes
- Nature has given human eyes their personal masseur viz. the eyelids.
- Consciously blinking the eyes instead of squinting will cleanse and give them the required massage.
- Use glasses
- If you have problems seeing but avoid using glasses due to vanity, you are bound to suffer from eyestrain. If your distance vision is good but cannot read up close then it is highly advisable for you to get a good pair of reading glasses to avoid eyestrain.
- If your distance vision is bad, use of glasses for curing eyestrain is highly recommended.
- Optimize your corrective lenses
- If you use glasses, be sure to get an anti-reflective coating to reduce glare from your computer or when you’re driving at night.
- If you are a contact lens wearer, be sure to use artificial tears or rewetting drops when you’re working at the computer.
- Be sure to also keep your prescriptions up-to-date; outdated prescriptions will create eye strain.
- Exercise the eye muscles
- Stand at a distance of about five feet from the blank wall. Ask somebody else to toss a ball while you try to catch it every time it bounces off.
- Alternatively, hold your thumb at the arms length, move it in circles and Xs, bringing it closer or far away and follow it with your eyes.
- These exercises offset the damage caused by eyestrain and improve the brain to nerve coordination for enhanced vision.
- Office friendly eye muscle exercises
- Imagine a clock directly in front of you. Focus on the center point, then look at an hour mark without moving your head. Look back at the center of the clock, and then focus your eyes on another hour mark. Try this 10 times.
- Use your eyes to write letters on a distant wall—but keep your head still.
We hope that these tips will help you to reduce eye strain in your life. If, however, you still experience headaches or vision changes it’s important to check with your optometrist. They will be able to provide you with more customized set of exercises or vision therapy that can work for you.
Resource:
Tired Eyes Have You Buggin’? – https://www.vsp.com/tired-eyes.html
