How Does Diabetes Affect the Eyes?
November is National Diabetes Month, a public effort to bring awareness to what could be called a diabetes epidemic. Diabetes affects your entire body; it can even affect your eyesight. Learn how.
My Computer Hurts My Eyes. What Can I Do?
You can develop eye strain, dry eyes, or headaches when working long hours on the computer.
Problems with your eyes affect your daily life. Maybe your eyes are too tired after work to read for pleasure. Perhaps eye pain is affecting your work.
Our board-certified ophthalmologists at Wolchok Eye Associates, PA, in Jacksonville, Florida, can help relieve your eye strain and provide tips to prevent it. Following are several ways to ease your eye strain.
Make an appointment for an eye exam
If your eyes hurt, feel dry and irritated, and you are prone to headaches, it’s time to see an eye specialist. If you wear glasses, your glasses may not be the correct prescription for intermediate distance when looking at your computer.
Your Wolchok Eye Associates ophthalmologist tests your vision with and without your glasses to determine if you need a different prescription for computer work. Before your appointment, measure how far your eyes are from your computer screen and let your doctor know at your visit so that they can test your eyes at that distance.
If you wear contacts for long hours during computer work, your contacts can make your eyes uncomfortable. Your doctor may recommend prescription eyeglasses when you work on the computer.
Get checked for dry eyes
Dry eyes can cause eye pain. If artificial tears don’t work, your doctor provides prescription eye drops to provide more moisture for your eyes or other remedies.
Adjust lighting in the room
You can get eye strain from bright sunlight or strong lights such as overhead fluorescent lights. Many office spaces offer too much bright light.
Remove or replace the bulbs in overhead fluorescent lights with lower-intensity bulbs, if possible. Turn off overhead fluorescent lights if you can, and use standing lamps with soft white bulbs instead of bright or daylight bulbs.
Place your computer so that windows are to the side if possible. Reduce glare. Invest in a screen glare filter if there’s too much light coming in.
Position your computer screen correctly
Your computer monitor should be a minimum of 20 inches away from your face, and the top of your screen should be at eye level. If you’re too far from the screen, you may be straining your eyes, neck, and back to see the text. If you’re too close, your eyes work extra hard to focus.
Take breaks
Have you heard of the 20-20-20 rule? Take a 20-second break every 20 minutes and look away from the computer at something 20 feet away to help prevent eye strain. If you keep forgetting to look away from the computer and find yourself in the same position for hours, set a timer to help you get up, stretch, and walk around. Call Wolchok Eye Associates, PA, or book an appointment through our online portal today if your eyes are sore from eye strain.
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