Your eyes are probably the first thing most people would focus on when they first look at you. Tired and strained eyes might give a negative impression on your personality. But, it is not just about your social or public image. Strained eyes lead to headaches, blurred vision, and fatigue. Modern lifestyle demands most people to keep starring their computer monitors for hours. However, you cannot possibly quit your job or stop using electronic gadgets. So what can you do? Give your eyes the rest it needs whenever possible. Make some little changes in the way you use your computer to ensure you are going easy on your eyes.
Why do you have eyestrain?
Try to hold on to a heavy object with your hands stretched for minutes. You will soon realize your muscles are getting tired swiftly. The same happens to your eyes when you keep staring at a computer monitor or keep reading a book for a long duration. When you fail to relax your eye muscles from time to time, your eyes will get strained out. This can lead to blurred and troubled vision temporarily. When you are exposed to bright sunlight, very brightly lit monitor or any bright light source, your eyes will soon start to feel the pain.
Rest and Relax your eyes
- Most often we get engaged on a vital task at the office or in a project work that needs to be done with at most focus and concentration. You end up totally forgetting the fact that you are straining your eyes in the process. Whenever you are engaged in a work, try to take a short break that lasts for a couple of minutes for every 30 minutes and relax your eye muscles. You can relax your eye muscles by looking at a distant object, peeking outside a window, focusing on a picture on a wall etc… Whenever you are focusing on a distant object, you are relaxing your eye muscles.
- Blinking is an excellent way to relax your eye muscles. whenever you are engaged in a work that demands to pay close attention to a computer monitor or a television set, try to blink as much as possible. Blinking will supply your eyes with needed moisture content and relaxes your eye muscles.
- If you are engaged in a day-long work that demands your almost focus on a computer monitor, then try to close your eyes for a few seconds every few minutes whenever you feel the strain in your eyes. This will provide your eyes muscles with much-needed relaxation it needs.
Warm and Cool Relief Measures
- A little warmth will relax your eye muscles. Rub both your palms together to generate some heat, and place the heels of your palms over your eyes for a few seconds. The gentle warmth present in the hands will give a soothing feel to your eyes.
- Take a clean washcloth or a small cotton cloth, soak it in ice cold water, wring it and lay it over your eyes for 3 to 5 minutes whenever your eyes feel strained.
- Slice some small pieces of cucumber, and lay it over your closed eyes for 5 to 10 minutes every day. This will cool down and relax your muscles.
For the attention of Bifocal users
Some people make use of a bifocal lens glasses, the lower part of the glass will have a separate set of lens for reading, while the upper part of the glass is usually used for distant viewing. If you wear these glasses while working on a computer, you will be forced to tilt your head back further for a clear vision. This can strain your neck muscles. Try to use separate reading glasses and a separate set of glasses for working with a computer. This way you will exert less stress on your neck and eye muscles.
When to seek Doctor’s Help
When none of the home remedies is working for you, and your eyesight getting worse every passing day, then you should consult an eye specialist immediately. You will also need the help of an eye specialist if you experience double vision combined with eye strain that doesn’t go away even after taking sufficient rest.
Use artificial tears
Dry eyes usually get tired and strained out very easily. If you are experiencing dry and raw eyes, then try to use artificial tears that are easily available at most pharmacies. However, avoid the ones that contain preservatives.
Correct your Monitor
- Turn the brightness level in your monitor to an agreeable level. Very bright light from the monitor can easily drain out your eye muscles quickly.
- Also, set the contrast levels to high, this will make the text and images to appear crisp.
- Adjust the monitor level or height of your seat to match your eye level.
- Use a bigger font for texts, so that you don’t have to strain out your eyes too much while reading. Or you can set the screen resolution to low make everything appear big on your monitor.
- Periodically clean the computer monitor and TV screen to make it improve clarity.
- Keep the computer monitor at least 20 inches away from your eyes.
- Ensure there are no glares on the screen from an outside light source. If there is any then try to arrest the source of lighting or use an antiglare filter on top of your monitor.
- Do not work in a dark room. Make sure your work area is evenly lit.
Use sunglasses
Make use of sunglasses whenever you go out in hot sunlight. Light from blue part of the spectrum is what tries your eyes the most, so opt for sunglasses with yellow, orange, amber, or brown lenses, as they will filter out the white and blue light.
For the attention of Readers
- Ensure your reading area is well lit. Make use of a gooseneck lamp with a lower watt bulb focused on the page. A lower watt bulb should be able to provide you with just the right amount of light for a pleasurable reading experience.
- Contrasting light levels in your reading room can strain your pupils in a big way. Make sure other lights in your room are turned on to reduce the darkness in other parts of the room.
- Fluorescent lights are not the best light source for reading. They may sometimes flicker which leads to eye strain. Incandescent lights are always the best choice.