Eyestrain

Eyestrain can happen to anyone. In fact, it usually happens to everyone, especially if you're over age 40. You're likely to have eyestrain at least occasionally if you use a computer, watch TV, drive a car or live in a smoggy city.

You know you've got eyestrain when normally clear images (such as words on the computer screen or print on the page) begin to appear blurry. Your eyes start to ache so much that you just want to close them for a while. Well, that's one thing you can do. But here are some other ways you can put a lid on eyestrain.

Try time-outs from close work. "When you're using a computer or doing any other type of close work that strains your eyes, stop every hour for about two minutes and give your eyes a rest," suggests Eric Donnenfeld, M.D., associate professor of ophthalmology at North Shore University Hospital/Cornell Medical College in Manhasset, New York. "Just close your eyes and do nothing--for a couple of minutes."

Stop reading--and refocus. "When you're reading, stop every 30 minutes or so and focus on something far away for a few seconds," adds Merrill M. Knopf, M.D., an ophthalmologist in Long Beach, California, and an officer of the California Association of Ophthalmology. There's a muscle in your eye that contracts when you're doing close-up work, Dr. Knopf explains. By refocusing, you relieve the spasms in that eye muscle. If you want something to look at, hang a sheet of newspaper on a far wall and try to read the larger print.

Fine-Tune Your Workstation

If you're a frequent computer user, you have probably discovered how important it is to reduce the glare on your computer screen in order to minimize eyestrain. "It's not so much the intensity of the surrounding light that's important; rather, it's the positioning," says Merrill M. Knopf, M.D., an ophthalmologist in Long Beach, California, and officer of the California Association of Ophthalmology. "The light source should be positioned close enough to you that it's comfortable but far enough away that it doesn't shine on your screen or into your eyes." Of course, placing a special antiglare shield on the screen also helps.

But here are some lesser-known tips to help prevent video-screen eyestrain from R. Anthony Hutchinson, O.D., an optometrist in Encinitas, California, and author of Computer Eye Stress: How to Avoid It, How to Alleviate It.

  • Adjust your computer monitor so that the letters on the screen are at least five times brighter than the background.
  • When buying a monitor, choose one with amber or green letters, because they're easiest on your eyes. Screen size isn't significant, but letter size is: Capital letters should be at least 1/8 inch high.
  • Avoid overhead fluorescent lighting when using your computer, because its flickering can interact with the flicker on your screen, causing eyestrain. (Even though you can't see the fluctuation in light, a fluorescent tube actually flickers about 60 times a second).

Take a tea break. Warm eyebright tea is a gentle balm for eyes that are strained. "Take a towel and soak it in brewed eyebright tea," says Meir Schneider, director of the Center for Self Healing in San Francisco and author of Self Healing: My Life and Vision. "Lie down, place the warm towel over your closed eyes, and leave it there for 10 to 15 minutes. It will make your eyestrain go away."

Be very careful not to let the towel drip tea into your eyes, though-and be sure the tea has cooled down enough before you soak the towel in it. Note: Eyebright tea is not a real tea but a mixture of herbal ingredients, sold in loose tea form at most health food stores, specifically for eyestrain.

Put your eyes "on the blink." Your eyes have their own personal masseuse-the eyelids. "Make it a point to consciously blink your eyes frequently and not squint," says Schneider. "Each blink cleanses your eyes and gives them a tiny little massage."

Get glasses. Most eyestrain is the result of vanity, says Dr. Donnenfeld. "Obviously, you're going to strain your eyes if your vision is off, so get a pair of glasses if you need them." If you have good distance vision and just have trouble seeing up close, reading glasses, sold in most drugstores, are sometimes enough to cure eyestrain.

Exercise your eyes. Standing about five feet from a blank wall, have someone toss a tennis ball at the wall while you try to catch it each time it bounces off. Or hold your thumb out at arm's length. Move it in circles and Xs, bringing the thumb closer, then farther away, as you follow it with your eyes. Both exercises help offset damage caused by eyestrain and improve the brain-to-nerve-to-muscle connection of your vision, says Don Teig, O.D., an optometrist and sports vision specialist in Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Have you or a family member had an experience with this? Help others by sharing your story now.

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