Useful tips to minimize eyestrain

I’ve
selected this article because it is very useful for those who spend many
hours in front of the computer.

Useful tips to minimize eyestrain

Here are
some easy to follow steps and tips to exercise your eyes and keep them
healthy!
• Palming Exercise - Sit comfortably on a chair. Rub your hands together
until they feel warm. Close your eyes and cover them lightly with your
cupped palms. Avoid applying pressure on your eyeballs. Place your palms
so that the nose remains uncovered, and the eyes remain behind the
slight hollow of the palms. Make sure that no light rays enter the eyes,
and leave no gaps between fingers or between the edge of the palms and
the nose. You may still see other lingering traces of colors. Imagine
deep blackness and focus on the blackness. Take deep breaths slowly and
evenly, while thinking of some happy incident; or visualize a distant
scene. After your eyes see nothing but blackness, remove your palms from
your eyes. Repeat the palming for 3 minutes or more.

• Close
your eyes tightly for 3-5 seconds, then open them for 3-5 seconds.
Repeat this 7 or 8 times.

• Close
your eyes and massage them with circular movements of your fingers for
1-2 minutes. Make sure you press very lightly; otherwise, you could hurt
your eyes.

• Press three fingers of each hand against your upper eyelids, and hold
them there for 1-2 seconds, then release. Repeat 5 times.

• Sit and relax. Roll your eyes clockwise, then counter-clockwise.
Repeat 5 times, and blink in between each time.

• Focusing Exercises – Sit about 6 inches (150 mm) from the window. Make
a mark on the glass at your eye level (a small sticker, black or red,
would be perfect). Look through this mark and focus on something far
away for 10-15 seconds; then focus on the mark again.

• Hold a pencil in front of you at arm’s length. Move your arm slowly to
your nose, and follow the pencil with your eyes until you can keep it
in focus. Repeat 10 times.

• Look in front of you at the opposite wall and pretend that you are
writing with your eyes, without turning your head. It may seem difficult
at first, but with a bit of practice it is really fun. The bigger the
letters, the better the effect.

• Imagine that you are standing in front of a really big clock. Look at
the middle of the clock. Then look at any hour mark, without turning
your head. Look back at the center. Then look at another hour mark. Do
this at least 12 times. You can also do this exercise with your eyes
closed.

• Focus on a distant object (over 150 feet or 50 m away) for several
seconds and slowly refocus your eyes on a nearby object (less than 30
feet or 10 m away) that’s in the same direction. Focus for several
seconds and go back to the distant object. Do this 5 times.

• Focus on an object in the distance (as far as possible) with a low
contrasting background. Do this for a few minutes every half hour or so.
This does not improve your vision, nor does any other technique. It
can, however, maintain your best eyesight level during the day and
prevent significant further vision deterioration.

• Make up
and down eye movements starting from up to to down. Do this 8 times.
Then do the side to side eye movement, starting from left to right.
Repeat this 8 times. Make sure not to add pressure to your eyes! It only
worsen your vision!
Tips

• It’s more important to do the exercises regularly than to do them for a
long time. Even 30-60 seconds of eye movement every hour is very
helpful. For example, when your computer takes its sweet time to do
something, most people just stare at the poor thing and waste the time,
but you can make a few circles with your eyes. Even the first day you do
this, you should notice that, when you finish working, your eyes aren’t
as tired as usual.

• Taking short breaks from near work (e.g. staring at a computer
monitor) to stare out to the distance also relieves some strain.

• Palming is a good method to help your eyes feel better. You close your
eyes and put your palms over them, this will rest your eyes.

• Blink the eyes many times.

• Splash your eyes with cold water repeatedly when feasible, and
especially when your eyes are strained.
Written by K.Ma