If you have your eyes burning, itchy and dry, it means they are really tired, and you need to let them rest. But it’s only a half of the deal, because if you won’t get rid of the causes that make your eyes hurt, you may even ruin your eyesight.
There are things – habits – we may do daily that affect our vision negatively, but we don’t notice it. Let’s see what are they, and how can we reduce their adverse impact.
#1 Computer work
All right, we all heard about it! But do you know that to really harm your eyes you don’t have to sit in front of your monitor for the whole day – it may only take a couple of hours! This may cause a computer vision syndrome: a burning sensation in the eyes, pain in the forehead, temporal myopia. These symptoms have been reported in 90% of users. These symptoms usually occur within 4 hours of continuous work at the computer, and after 6 hours virtually everyone can experience them.
So, what to do?
The best course of action is to have breaks every 30-40 minutes to let your eyes rest. To get the most of such rest you can do simple eye exercises:
- Close your eyes and then wide open them – do it 5-6 times.
- Without turning your head, look up, down, right, left.
- Again, without moving your head, rotate your eyes clockwise and counterclockwise, making a circle as wide as possible.
- Close your eyes, and gently massage your eyelids with your fingertips, doing circular movements for 1 minute.
While working at the computer, try to blink often, to prevent eye dryness. Also make sure your monitor is properly placed – it should be right in front of you, at a distance of 18 -28 inches (45-70 cm), and slightly below the eye level.
#2 Smoking
Nicotine adversely affects the condition of the retinal vessels, because they narrow dramatically during smoking, and the blood circulation worsens. This causes poor cell nutrition, low oxygen saturation, and over time the retinal cells begin to die, eye vision deteriorates.
The solution is simple: quit smoking; if you can’t, at least reduce it to not more than 3-4 times a day.
#3 Improper contact lens use
Contact lenses help to avoid wearing glasses, but are they always safe? The answer is ‘no’, if you misuse them. If you ignore the rules of their use, it may even cause the serious eye problems, such as conjunctivitis, corneal erosion and swelling.
So, to avoid this, you need to follow these simple rules:
- Always rely on a doctor’s opinion when choosing the lenses; don’t just do it yourself.
- Do not wear the lenses over the prescribed period; over time harmful substances that may cause inflammation, accumulate on the lens surface.
- Always remove the lenses before going to bed, so that your eyes may breathe freely.
- If you have to spend a lot of time in a dusty or smoky room, it’s better to wear glasses instead of lenses, because lenses may quickly absorb the pollutants from air, which may lead to allergic reactions.
#4 Lack of sleep
Lack of sleep will eventually cause eye problems. They start with the feeling of discomfort, and the worsening of the vision. If these symptoms become chronic, it may lead to the development of glaucoma or ischemic optic neuropathy – vessel disease of the optic nerve, characterized by sudden painless loss of vision in one eye.
Sleep disturbances often causes swelling of the optic nerve due to increased intracranial pressure, which leads to gradual vision deterioration.
To save your eye vision, try to balance your day schedule. Get enough sleep – at least 6 hours a day in a well ventilated room.
#5 3D movie craze
That’s a modern one. The problem with 3D movies is that the 3D-effect poses a serious strain on the eyes and brain. You may already heard the complains of general fatigue, dizziness, nausea, violation of blood pressure, headache and eye pain, some people experience after these movies.
To avoid the adverse effects of 3D, don’t watch such movies more than 2 times a week.
If you consider these 5 things, and follow them, it may really save your eyes!