In the pandemic situations when sustaining life and adapting to a whole new lifestyle is a deal for us, we experience different hurdles that we have not experienced ever in the past. Many of us are experiencing a longer screen time, stuck within four walls. Life has impacted our fitness schedule, even for children. Being locked at home with no play time, no friends meet-up, munching junk foods and having to spend a lot of time looking at screens either for work, study or entertainment.
What is Dry Eye syndrome?
Overall physical health and even mental health is affected whereas eye strain and dryness are one of the unseen issues. Dry Eyes syndrome is not a unique one but a very common eye difficulty faced by the majority of people of all age groups. However it is frequently experienced by contact lens users, those who have undergone lasik eye surgery. Dry eye condition generally occurs when your tear glands aren’t able to provide adequate lubrication for your eyes. It is common to experience dry eyes during pollen seasons but it is much more common during the winter months as cold air holds very less humidity thereby resulting in less moisture in the air.
Easy techniques to prevent dry eye
Listed below are some of the simple techniques that you can discuss with your doctor and can be followed at home to take care of dry eyes and strain eyes.
Frequent Computer Breaks
Our jobs require us to spend a lot of time on our laptops and desktops. Subconsciously you focus constantly on screens and forget that your eyes are getting tired. Prioritising work and concentration is important but while doing the same we should not be ignoring the wellness of the eyes. Along with work, binge watching for hours whether mobile or laptop screen puts much stress on our eyes thereby making them dry. Managing screen time, taking breaks in between should be in practice.
The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends to follow a ‘20-20-20’ rule, every 20 seconds shift your eyes and try to focus on something that is 20 feet away from you. When you look at things closer to you often it strains your eyes but this exercise gives you a break from stress.
Use Sunglasses
Whenever you are outdoors in the sun, there is much more pollution and nanoscopic dust particles that your eyes are exposed to. Hence, it is advisable to cover your eyes with the wrap-around type sunglasses to give your eyes protection from all angles once you are outdoors. Sunglasses save your eyes from dust and UV rays.
Eat More Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Consuming food that has a rich content of Omega-3 and fatty acids like Tuna fish, flax seeds and fish oil being some of the rich sources, the body uses these fatty acids to create EPA and DHA that reduce inflammation and protects cell membranes in the eyes and the rest of the body.
Avoid Smoke
Smoking is injurious to every part of the body including eyes. Even a passive smoker’s eyes are affected by the smoke. Whether it's cigarettes or also from chimneys,smoke and fumes affect eyes. Any kind of smoke is harmful and can worsen dry eye symptoms. Quitting smoking is advisable for overall well being. Often smokers experience dry eye conditions in their life-time.
Use Lubricating Eye Drops
Lubricating eye drops like EyeSpa eye drops helps you to keep eyes moisten providing relief from eye fatigue and dry eyes. The key compound Carboxymethyl cellulose is studied and known to be one of the safe and effective ingredients in eye solution for dry eye condition.
These are the many ways you can prevent dry eyes and also a healthy lifestyle with ample amount of water intake also helps in maintaining your fitness. If at any point your eyes have discomfort, any discharge or you feel uncomfortable, contact your eye doctor as soon as possible.