Make eye health a priority in 2020, by using the 20/20/20 rule

Stepping into 2020, a new year and a new decade, many of us will have some health-geared resolutions. We are encouraging people to include their eye health! As more of us are on some sort of screen each day, eye-strain is becoming more common. Learn how to use the 20/20/20 rule to alleviate eye-strain symptoms.

Dr. Anshel developed the 20/20/20 rule back in the early 90s as he was seeing more and more patients complaining of “strange” eye symptoms. He found that these patients were on a computer screen for their jobs several hours each day. His advice was simple, and easy to remember: Take a 20 second break every 20 minutes looking something at 20 feet away.

Though eye-strain won’t cause permanent vision damage, it causes dry and tired eyes. Typically, we blink 15 times a minute, but excess screen time, or even reading a book can decrease the amount we blink, leading to symptoms.

It isn’t just working adults with eye-strain. Adolescent myopia is increasing as more kids are playing video games and using phones and other screened technology. Many schools across the country are going to screen based education in their classrooms, as well. It is important to learn eye-related ergonomic tips to minimize their eye-strain.

Additional ways to ease eye-strain is to use artificial tears, and be sure your room is properly lit. Our eyes have to work harder to focus, for example, if the screen is brighter than the room. Contact lens wearers suffer from dry eyes more often from eye-strain, so it is important to utilize these suggestions, and also take a break from your contacts and use your eye glasses.

If your eyes are persistently red with blurry vision, or you become sensitive to light, please give of our office a call at 541-687-1927 and arrange an appointment with one of our ophthalmologist, or schedule on our website.

Source Links: Optometry Times
Source aao.org