A How To On Healthy Eyes

During this pandemic most forms of work have gone online. It is important to practice safe habits for your eyes, so hopfully you will learn something from reading this.

Image of an eyeball holding a carrot, image provided by Harcourt Health.

By Conner Beam

The time is 10:43, you can feel your eyes fighting to stay open. You finally decide that it’s time to get some shut. After putting all of your stuff away and turning off your computer, you lie down in bed. There is only one problem, you can’t fall asleep. I suggest adding a paragraph about tossing/ turning, staring at the ceiling, something along those lines. After what feels like an eternity you finally drift off.

Has this ever happened to you? The feeling of being tired but not being able to fall asleep. The problem might be right in front of you. Bluelight from the computer that most people use almost every day might be contributing to the reason you can’t go to sleep.

Dr. Shusmita H. Rahman has been practicing optometry for over 20 years. She was an Optometrist in the US Navy for Four years while she was based in San Diego, CA, and now “Bluelight is part of a spectrum of light that’s kind of close to the ultraviolet range, but it’s visible,” Says Rahman. “The reason that blue lights are kind of a popular thing to talk about, because a lot of our devices like computers, cell phones, they all have a blue light that emits

that.”

The fact that something we use every day might be hurting us is kind of a scary thing to think about. What’s not so scary is that there is a way to protect your eyes from blue light. “Well, there are many things you can do,” Rahman says. “More important than anything is using the common sense rules when using computers.” “You want to have a good, six to sixteen inches away from you.”

That isn’t the only thing that you can do to protect yourself. According to Rahman there are other ways to keep your eyes

and mind safer.

“You also want to have this thing called [the] 20 20 20 rule, which is for every 20 minutes of looking at a computer screen or device, look away for about 20 seconds at [something] about 20 feet or further,” says Rahman. “That resets the body a little bit and makes sure you get a full reset.”

Another good way to keep your eyes healthy is to practice good computer hygiene. This is important because blue light isn’t the only thing that can harm your eyes.

“So we don’t often blink enough,” says Rahman. “that robs the moisture of the front surface of the eye.” “When I say blinking, I’m talking about

Image of blue light wavelengths, image provided by Cultural Health Solutions.

Image of Dr.Rahman with a child, image from the south park meadows optometry website.

just a general blink. It’s not like forceful blinks. But often you want to kind of be really cognizant that we don’t blink enough.”

Trying to force yourself to blink more can be a difficult task, but it can really help your eyes out a lot. It keeps your eyes moisturized which is really important to their health. Another thing to do on top of that is to wear your glasses if you have them.

“I think the most important thing is having the correct prescription when you’re looking at a device for a long time,” Rahman said.

When talking about blue light the circadian rhythm usually comes up. This is the body’s natural clock. It lets you know when to sleep and wake up. When blue light interferes with your circadian rhythm it is bad for your eyes and body because “Well, first of all, if you don’t get enough sleep and your entire body is affected, right?” says Rahman. “[When you sleep] your cells inside your body are very active, they’re restoring, they’re cleaning, they’re

repairing their building for the next day. It’s obvious that you need sleep, and if you can’t fall asleep then that is dangerous to your well being. Some people find that if they put up the electronics how long? Suggest a timeframe- 30 minutes, an hour before they go to bed, then it is easier for them to fall asleep.

“So if you take a break from [electronics] an hour before you go to sleep, a couple of things are happening,” says Rahman. “You’re taking a break from all the information that you’re getting right? Before you go to sleep it’s a good idea to really just give yourself that time to rest and say okay, I’ve had a great day.”

The thing to keep in mind during these trying times is to stay healthy. Whether that is picking up a hobby to stay sane or to start working out to work your muscles you need to remember to take care of yourself.

Image of a person sleeping, image provided by Kathi MacNaughton.

Image of the circadian rythem, image provided by Liveli.