As a computer engineer, Pablo spends most of his time in front of a computer screen. He loves his job, but lately, his eyes are tired, dry, and red, causing a constant headache. At first, he ignores it, but the symptoms persist, and he is worried. Paul suffers from “eye fatigue,” which occurs when the eyes are strained by screen brightness and contrast, thus increasing the workload on the eye muscles. Today, with the prevalence of television, computers, video games, and smartphones, most suffer from eye fatigue. Driving a car and living in a smog-filled city are other significant reasons for eye fatigue. The eyes hurt so much that one must close them for some time.
How to recognize what is called “asthenopia”? Eye fatigue or asthenopia corresponds to a temporary disturbance in the functioning of the eye as a consequence of excessive visual use. It affects everyone, but people with vision problems (presbyopia, myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism) are more exposed.
What are the symptoms associated with eye fatigue? Decreased visual acuity; sensation of glare or double vision; alteration of the visual field. Eye fatigue manifests as itchy, irritated, dry eyes, resulting in insufficient tear secretion, red eyes, and infrequent blinking. Eye fatigue also generates headaches above the eyes.
If you work in front of a computer daily, you need a break of about five minutes after every hour. What to do? Close your eyes and do nothing. If you read continuously, take a break every 30 minutes to look far into the distance. When you read up close, a muscle in your eye contracts. Then, shifting your focus to an object in the space relieves the strength of its tension.
Nature has given human eyes their masseur, namely the eyelids. Every hour, blink your eyes for 20–30 seconds instead of squinting them. It will provide them with the massage required to avoid eye fatigue.
🔟 TIPS TO PROTECT THE EYES.
1 – Complete visual examination for any ocular anomaly. 2 – Lighting and glare. Bright light and excessive glare tire the eyes and make seeing objects on the screen difficult. Find a suitable location away from direct light and glare. 3 – Blink. It keeps the eyes lubricated and prevents dry eyes.
4 – Lubrication. If the eyes are dry, lubricating drops control the discomfort. 5 – The “20-20-20” rule. To reduce eye fatigue, every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet (6.1 meters) away for 20 seconds.
