Do your eyes water — or feel especially dry — after long hours in front of your computer? Or possibly your eyes feel sore or drained after a protracted drive. If so, it's possible you'll be experiencing eye strain. But take heart: Regular breaks and easy adjustments might help keep your eyes comfortable as you go about your day.
What is eye pressure and what causes it?
“Eye strain” describes eye discomfort, sometimes accompanied by short-term vision difficulties. Many activities contribute to the issue. For example, specializing in a detailed task (similar to reading small print or doing detailed needlework) for an prolonged time period could make it difficult to loosen up your attention when you look and give attention to something within the room. The pain may come from situations that force your eyes to work harder, similar to attempting to see in dim light.
When eye strain results from long sessions in front of electronic screens, including TVs and smartphones, it is usually because of our natural tendency to not blink enough when taking a look at a screen.
Other aspects that may cause eye strain include:
- dim light
- Glare or very shiny light
- Air is blowing directly into the eyes, causing dryness
- Dust or smoke on the digital screen
- Bad weather while driving
- Wearing glasses or contact lenses with the fallacious prescription.
Effects of eye strain
Pressure within the eyes may cause quite a few symptoms. You may experience a number of of the next:
- Eyes which are drained, sore, itchy, or burning
- Dry or watery eyes
- Blurred vision or difficulty concentrating
- Difficulty keeping your eyes open
- Muscle grooves within the eyes or eyelids
- Headache behind eyes
- Eye pain from shiny light.
Eye strain may interfere with concentration, productivity, or reading accuracy (causing blurred vision). Back, neck, or shoulder pain may result from poor posture while attempting to compensate for drained eyes.
Tips to scale back eye strain
A concerted effort is required to avoid eye strain. Here are suggestions to assist.
Take regular breaks. Follow the 20-20-20 rule for close tasks: Every 20 minutes, search 20 feet away for 20 seconds. For continuous driving, take a break after two hours or 100 miles, or as needed.
Keep eye surfaces moist. Try to blink every every so often. It helps to moisturize the surface of the attention. Use artificial tears when driving or viewing digital screens for prolonged periods. It may additionally help to wear glasses as a substitute of contact lenses for computer use, or to make use of relief drops. When driving, keep windy spots away out of your eyes (air removes moisture). Consider using a humidifier in your house.
Get a transparent vision. Keep digital screen surfaces and glasses clean.
Reduce glare. Wear polarized sunglasses, especially when driving.
Creating an eye-friendly workspaceThe American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) recommends the next suggestions for organizing your workspace to forestall dry eyes and eye strain:
The AAO doesn't recommend blue-light glasses, because there isn't a strong evidence that blue light from digital devices causes eye strain. |
Should you be nervous?
If you suddenly experience blurred vision, lose vision in a single or each eyes, or experience a shower of temporary flashes of sunshine or dark dots in your vision, this might indicate something more serious (similar to a stroke or detached retina) that requires immediate medical attention. Call your eye doctor or 911. Otherwise, eye pressure, while uncomfortable, is often nothing to fret about. Consider this an indication to take higher care of your eyes. If eye strain persists for greater than every week or two, or if eye strain is especially painful, contact your eye doctor to rule out underlying conditions.
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