Relieving eyestrain Was your mother right? Did you ruin your eyes by gluing your nose to the TV with cartoons on Saturday morning? Well, no. The natural aging of the eyes and their loss in flexibility that causes age-related reading problems (known as presbyopia) are not due to bad TV viewing habits. On the other hand, eye fatigue and eyestrain, and the associated dry eyes, may occur if you read in dim light or stare at a computer screen for long periods. It is rarely permanent, however, so boost your awareness of unhealthy habits and take steps to change them to reduce eyestrain and its related symptoms. Focus on these tips to protect your precious baby blues, browns, or greens: Avoid glare and contrast—Surrounding illumination is important to avoid glare. Keep overhead room lights on when doing close work or when watching TV to provide a background of illumination. Body state—Often eyestrain is an expression of your "overall body state", such as excessive fatigue or emotional tension; rest and pamper yourself to reduce overall tiredness. Frequent rest periods—Give your eyes a break from excessive close work by taking frequent rest periods during which time your eyes do little close focusing. Gazing into the far distance often relaxes the eye muscles. It is important to remember that excessive close work does not damage your eyes, but it may cause eyestrain symptoms that can severely limit your ability to work. The frequency and length of time of rest periods should average at least 15 minutes per hour of eye-straining work. Use of reading glasses and bifocals—Reading glasses or bifocals alter your range of close vision, and are usually needed by the time you are in your forties. Environmental Factors—Dust, chemicals, smoke and chalk can produce eyestrain symptoms through irritation or allergy. These are usually treated with eye lubricants and by minimizing contact with the irritant. A dry environment, especially in the winter, can cause symptoms, and increasing the humidity can help. Special Glasses—Lenses that lower the brightness of all wavelengths of light and filter out invisible ultraviolet (UV) light and visible blue-violet light, coatings that reduce UV light, and UV filtering lenses are available and provide excellent protection. Rose-tinted lenses provide some help with fluorescent lighting - and let you see the whole world in a more flattering light! Non-reflective coating applied to the surface of a lens can cut down glare and reflections. Lenses that polarize light reduce glare and are useful around water or snow. When you are at your computer—If you use a computer, you may prefer a viewing distance farther away than normal reading; keep reference material as close to the screen as practical to minimize head and eye movements and focusing changes. You may need special work glasses to lessen awkward head positions and give a good working range. Since standard office lighting is often too bright, try to arrange lighting so that reflections and glare are minimized. Some suggestions to reduce glare are hoods, neutral density or micromesh filters for the computer screen, or wearing rose-tinted lenses with non-reflective coating. The computer screen is a good dust collector and you should wipe it often with an antistatic cloth to improve visibility. Periodic rest breaks are important; rigid head, eye and body positions can be fatiguing. Frequent blinking will lubricate your eyes and lessen their drying out. Your clinician may recommend the use of re-wetting drops. Also see: How to apply eye drops ©1999-2000, Women First HealthCare, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be modified, reused, "framed," reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission of Women First HealthCare, Inc.