Hey there and Happy Sunday! Lately I noticed that excessive use of the computer has been causing my eyes to become sore and twitchy. It’s very irritating and I know it’s from constantly staring at my phone and computer all day. Writing and reading can definitely cause severe eye strain over a long period of time. That’s why taking precautions and a sufficient number of breaks in between sessions is vital to the health of our eyes. Especially during those late-night writing sessions. So, here are just a few suggestions that can help give your tired eyes some much needed attention.

Medicine

There is a medicine called TRP Eye Strain Relief that I stumbled onto and it is especially for treating eye strain. http://www.thereliefproducts.com The cost is $10.99 for either the relief drops or the PM Ointment. I personally have not tried this medicine yet but since it got some pretty good reviews, I may just give it a try.

Adjust Your Computer Settings

Try going into the settings of your computer monitor and adjusting the glare on your computer screen or installing f. flux  https://justgetflux.com/ which will adjust the brightness of your monitor according to the time of day it is. I have been using it for three years now and it doesn’t solve my eye strain problem altogether, but it does help.

A Warm Compress

Try taking short breaks in between writing sessions by placing a warm or hot compress over your eyes while they are closed. Leave it on your eyes until the compress becomes room temperature and then remove it. This will make your eyes feel a little disoriented when you first open them again but after a few second, they will be more focused and ready to resume work. Even if you don’t want to use the warm compress, closing your eyes for a few seconds or blinking for a few seconds can help a great deal.

Turn Off Your Computer

As hard as this one might be, I would highly recommend just turning off the computer and relax for a few minutes because as long as it’s on, you will be tempted to go back to work. If you just can’t stop working at that moment, complete whatever it is you have to do and then turn it off and try to avoid staring at any type of screens for at least thirty minutes to an hour. No computer, no phone, no tablet, no iPad and no TV. If you can do this every day you will start to feel the difference in your eyes. They will become more focused and less strained.

See A Doctor

Regular visits to the optometrist is unnecessary unless you wear glasses or contact lenses. But if you feel that eye strain is causing your eyes to lose focus for prolonged amounts of time than yes, go see an optometrist asap. Your vision is something that you do not want to play around with because the possibility of cataracts and other severe eye problems can set in without you knowing it until it’s too late and you have a complete loss of vision.

Sleep

Finally, get enough sleep. This one is extremely difficult to adhere to because a lot of people just have busy lives and can’t always get to bed early. Eight hours of sleep is a luxury for many and for me. I can’t even remember when I’ve had eight hours of sleep. But when I did, it made a huge difference in not only my eyesight but my overall health. It’s hard to discipline yourself to get enough sleep every night but even if that is impossible for you to do, try taking at least one nap during the course of the day if possible. My mother use to call them “Cat Naps” and they can help ease the strain on your eyes and also lower your stress levels too. But if your going to do this, set an alarm to wake yourself up so you don’t oversleep.

Doesn’t it seem as if we are all more tired than ever before? Sometimes we need to question why that is the case. If technology is so progressive and supposed to make life easier for us, why are we more tired now than we were back in the 80’s and 90’s? Just something to think about while we are…resting our eyes.

Have a great week everyone…