Why screens tire your eyes
People blink about fifteen times a minute, and at a screen that falls by half or more. The tear film evaporates, and the result is burning, blurred vision and a headache. None of this causes permanent damage, and most of it is preventable. Set the screen about an arm's length away, with its top edge at or just below eye level so that you look slightly downward. Match the brightness of the screen to the room, and place it at a right angle to any window to cut glare. Preservative-free artificial tears help, as does moving out of the path of a vent or a fan. Blue-light glasses have not been shown to reduce eye strain.
Exams and prescriptions
A vision screening checks only whether you can read a chart. A comprehensive exam with dilated pupils looks at the retina, the optic nerve and the pressure in the eye, and it can catch glaucoma, which destroys side vision without any warning. Go every one to two years if you wear glasses or contacts, every year if you have diabetes, and at least once in your twenties and twice in your thirties otherwise. Federal rules require the office to give you a copy of your prescription at the end of the exam, without being asked, and you may fill it anywhere. A contact lens prescription is a separate document.
Contact lens rules
- Wash and dry your hands before you touch a lens.
- Keep lenses away from all water, which means no tap-water rinsing and no showering or swimming in them.
- Do not sleep in lenses unless they were prescribed for overnight wear, since doing so multiplies the risk of a corneal infection.
- Use fresh solution every time, never top off what is in the case, and replace the case every three months.
- Replace lenses on schedule, and keep a current pair of glasses as a backup.
Same-day problems
Sudden loss of vision, a curtain or shadow across part of your sight, a burst of new floaters or flashes of light, or severe eye pain with nausea all need an emergency room or an ophthalmologist that day. A contact lens wearer with a red, painful, light-sensitive eye should take the lenses out and be seen the same day. After a chemical splash, flush the eye with clean water for fifteen minutes before you go anywhere.
Tip Wear safety glasses for yard work and power tools, since most serious eye injuries would be prevented by eyewear that costs under ten dollars.
