Greetings to all and sundry,
It is another beautiful day today and the bliss of a new year continues to shower on us, in some parts of the world they are experiencing snowfall whereas others are experiencing hail storms, in my part of the world the weather is dry and cold but in all, we continue to move forward.
I do hope you are doing well and having a good time this week though, it is always a pleasure to hear from my readers and I am glad about how far I have come with the help of the amazing and loving communities of hive blockchain. Today we would be continuing with our health talks as usual and I do hope you enjoy this too.
Introduction
There are some basic tips and tricks if you would want to consider it that way, most at time people refer to these ways as life hacks and so today I want to continue by sharing with you 3 simple hacks which could benefit you immensely when it comes to taking care of your eyes or sight.
Knowing and being able to make good use of these hacks will make you feel more comfortable as well as improve your sight to an extent, healthy eyes are a must-have because our eyes are our gateway to this world, and losing them is probably one of the worst tragedies anyone could get to experience in this world, and so without much ado, let's get on with it.
Ocular Life Hacks
- Cold Water for Allergies
Allergic conjunctivitis/rhinitis is one of the most common conditions to ever be presented at the hospital or eye clinic. Even in the dry season or winter it persists and gets worse during the wet season or summer when pollen and other environmental factors are at their peak to cause the condition.
Treatment of the condition requires the use of antihistamines, mast cell stabilizers as well as steroids to keep away the itching, but eventually, your drugs may finish, and on that fateful day that it finishes and you cannot make it to the hospital in time, life can be very disturbing with the itching and so when that happens here is a simple trick to ease your suffering till you can seek to consult again.
The use of cold water works quite well in calming down the itching, similar to how it works in calming down inflammations, all you need to do is get a face towel, dip it in cold water and put it on the itching eye for a while, repeat this step for some few minutes and the itch should quickly quite down and give you some peace.
And so the next time the itch starts up, you can try this hack and give me feedback, however, please note that this is not a permanent solution and that it should not replace the medication your Optometrist may have prescribed for you.
- 20-20-20 Rule
The world as we know it can be considered a technological era and most of us if not all of us spend time behind a computer or a laptop or a tv every day within 24 hours. This habit which is obviously inevitable as it becomes a part of our life now brings about a condition known as computer vision syndrome.
Computer vision syndrome is best managed with glasses usage however there is this simple hack that when employed could add up to the spectacles to make life as a tech user much easier and better for you. Please note that this is not a replacement for recommended solutions by your optometrist.
The 20-20-20 rule states that for every 20 minutes spent behind a screen (tech tool), you should look away about 20 feet for about 20 seconds before you continue with whatever you are doing. At first glance, it may seem like an impossible task or feat but with conscious effort, it can easily be done and I can assure you the results is amazing on the eye and the entire system.
It is an ergonomic rule that does a whole lot for full tech workers, it not only eases the stress on the eye but on your hand if your work demands a lot of typing, but it also allows the system to take a general break from work every now and then, you could even stand and walk around your desk within that time frame and get back to work and it would do your back a lot of good, so give it a try and let me have your feedback.
- Night Mode
Tech has greatly come a long way and as it continues to advance researchers in their wisdom find ways and means to battle the side effects that come with its usage. It was found that most individuals spend a lot of time with their gadgets in dim light because they tend to use them often later in the evening or at night when they are back from work and want to spend quality time with peers online.
This dim light work was having a lot of negative effects on the eye because in the darkness the pupils open up more and thus allowing all the rays or radiations from our fons and TVs and fons to get into our eye. This accelerates computer vision syndrome development, and it also results in dry eye conditions as well as affects the sleep cycle of its users due to the blue light's impact on the circadian rhythm.
And so the night mode was developed, unfortunately, a lot of people are still not aware of or do not care much about using it however if you should make good use of the night mode when the illumination in your room or wherever you find yourself is down then you not only would be protecting your eyes but saving yourself from lots of future trouble including difficulty sleeping later that night.
Night mode increases the warmness of your screen and makes the light gentle on your eye as well as reduces or takes away the blue effect, the only downside is that the image may be a bit different due to the color saturation however it is not something that you cannot deal with and its better this way than to face all the other consequences later.
If you are likely to forget to switch it on or off, you could use the f.lux software for your laptop it would regulate it automatically for you, and for modern smartphones, you could program it to come on at a particular time of the day and go off accordingly. Do well to give it a try and let me have your feedback.
Conclusion
These hacks are tips that have benefitted me immensely and most of my patients are glad I talked to them about them, I have no doubt that if you should be able to implement them you would also benefit immensely from them and have an improved ocular health system.
Just as I stated earlier these are not a replacement for actual management for any conditions related to what we have discussed, when in doubt always speak to your Optometrist, I am also always available to help. It is always a pleasure to have this time with you, thanks for your time, and be safe.
Further Reading
Bielory L. (2008). Ocular allergy treatment. Immunology and allergy clinics of North America, 28(1), 189–vii. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iac.2007.12.001
Talens-Estarelles, C., Cerviño, A., García-Lázaro, S., Fogelton, A., Sheppard, A., & Wolffsohn, J. S. (2022). The effects of breaks on digital eye strain, dry eye, and binocular vision: Testing the 20-20-20 rule. Contact lens & anterior eye: the journal of the British Contact Lens Association, 101744. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clae.2022.101744
Nagare, R., Plitnick, B., & Figueiro, M. G. (2019). Does the iPad Night Shift mode reduce melatonin suppression?. Lighting research & technology (London, England : 2001), 51(3), 373–383. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477153517748189