Eyes during lockdown – Part 2.3

How to protect your vision from the ill effects of digital exposure during the current lockdown? 

While it will not be fair to ask you to stop your digital device use given the current situations, let’s see how we can minimize it and when we do use screens, how can we best use them to cause minimum ocular stress.

I shall be sharing one point everyday with you all. 

3. Blink more! 

Eyes need to stay moist to stay healthy. Blink frequently (and fully) to remoisten the surface of your eyes and avoid dry eye symptoms.

Staring at a screen strains the eyes more than reading printed material because people tend to blink 30-50% less. Normal blink rate is 12 to15 blinks per minute. Staring at the screen reduces the blink rate to as less as 7 blinks per minute. 

The action of blinking helps spread tears across the eye, keeping the eye uniformly lubricated. After every few seconds, the tears accumulate at the brim of the lower eye lid by the action of gravity. During the process of blinking, as the upper eyelids is pulled up, it draws the tear lake up along with it, remoistening the surface of the eye. 

A clear and stable tear film on the surface of the eye is essential for clear vision. Lack of blinking causes your eye to dry out leading to irritation and gritty sensation. The dry spots that develop on the eye lead to fluctuating vision, further adding to eye strain and ocular discomfort. Prolong lack of blinking causes redness and pain which worsens over the course of the day. 

Over tearing or watering of eyes while viewing display devices is also an early symptom of dryness. This sounds contradictory so let me explain the mechanism. 

Since the eyes feel dry, the brain assumes it to be because of lack of tears, while in fact it is due to lack of blinking. To overcome the dryness, the brain stimulates the tear glands to produce more tears which in turn causes watering. In spite of the watering, the surface on the eye continues to be dry due to lack of blinking and the vicious cycle continues. 

How to prevent dry eyes associated with viewing display screens? 

Be mindful of blinking and make it a habit, as it will keep your eyes healthy and lubricated. Blink full, the upper eyelid should come all the way down to meet the lower eye lid during each blink. 

If need be, use artificial tears or lubricant eye drops to relieve symptoms of dryness. You can ask your eye care practitioner to prescribe you eye lubricating drops or gels, depending on your needs. 

The air quality in the environment that you use a computer in can play a role in dryness. Strong Air conditioning aggravates dry eyes. Use a humidifier. It adds moisture to dry indoor air so your eyes won’t dry out as quickly. If necessary, move away from fans and vents that blow air toward your eyes and face. Wearing spectacles prevents air from fans and vents from directly hitting your eyes. 

Drink lots of fluids and keep yourself well hydrated. 

Stay safe, Stay healthy

Mithali Paranjape +919890147825

                                                | Paranjpe Vision Care, F.C. Road | Paranjpe Eye Care. Karvenagar | +919823351184 |