World Sight Day
This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.
Did you know that the eye is the strongest muscle in your body and it can process 36,000 bit of information every hour? Well, now you do!
Since your eyes are the strongest muscle in your body, it is important to take care of them! To remind you of the importance of eye health, the Vision Council along with hundreds of other health, business, and vision-related organizations are celebrating World Sight today, October 10th! The goal of this global initiative is to focus attention on vision impairment and encourage adults and children across the world to get their eyes examined.
Why is eye health so important?
Eyes are the window to our overall health and well being. During routine eye exams, eye doctors can uncover chronic systemic diseases like high blood pressure and high cholesterol, brain disorders, stroke, multiple dclerosis, diabetes and even some types of cancer – all in addition to eye diseases and incremental vision loss.
One of the biggest issues that impact our eye health is digital eye strain. Last year, The Vision Council found that 70 percent of adults experience some form of digital eye strain while using their devices! 70%! This is due to more adults and children spending a lot of time in front of digital devices. Prolonged time on digital devices tires and fatigues our eyes and can cause dry, irritated eyes, blurred vision, headaches, and back and neck pain. I am sure most of us can relate to digital eye strain!
How can we combat Digital Eye Strain?
There are a few ways to combat digital eye strain.
- 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
- Clean your screen!
- Reduce exterior and overhead lighting to avoid glare.
- Keep your distance from the screen, about 20-24 inches.
- Position your computer 10-15 degrees below eye level.
- Purchase computer eye wear!
Did you see #6? I had never heard of computer eye wear but I am totally looking into it! I think all of the headaches that I have been having are related to digital eye strain. I will definitely be talking to my doctor about this one! Computer eye wear helps because they have an anti-reflecting properties which help cut back on the glare from your screen. They also help your eyes relax a little bit so they’re not straining through an additional glare from the screen.
I honestly couldn’t tell you the last time I had an eye appointment and I need to fix that! The American Optometric Association recommends infants receive their first eye exam at 6 months and again at 3 and 5-6 years old. For school age, every 2 years. And for children with eyeglasses, it is recommended to be examined annually. For adults, two years is a good rule of thumb. But consult with your eye doctor for their recommendations!
Clean my screen? What’s that?!?! 🙂 I can definitely tell the difference how my eyes feel when I’m around my computer too much. Thanks for the tips!
My first thought was: Computer eyewear? lol awesome article
Thanks for the tips. Very interesting.
Computer eyewear? I so need that! LOL.
Clean my screen needs to happen immediately! I wonder how tech like Google Glass will affect eye strain… (Love the redesign, btw).
Yikes! I am so badly in need of an eye appointment! AND, the 20-20-20 rule…I never heard that one before. Off to look at something 20 feet away:)
My eyesight is awful. I remember reading somewhere that after having a baby you should get your eyes checked again. My daughter is almost 2 and I still haven’t!
This is a great reminder! Thanks for sharing. I love the tip about looking up every 20 minutes.
I would be so very lost without my glasses or contacts! Thank you for this reminder since I’m going to have to get another eye exam next year!
Lucky to have great eyesight and my kids don’t seem to have any issues either! of course if I stare at this computer too much more I may be in a different boat!
The World Sight Awareness Day is so important. In my mid-40’s and over 20 years in front of pc.. I can say it does affect your vision. Now, homeschooling my son and majority of time, he spends in front of computer.. I will take these tips to heart.
Yeah, my screen could definitely use a cleaning! I swear, ever since college when my computer use ramped up, my eyes have gotten worse and worse. I’ll be visiting the eye doctor this year.
It’s easy to forget to stop staring at the screen every so often. My eyes do get tired after a while. Maybe these tips will help!
What a great post! I really learned a lot of useful information and because I am a blogger I really needed to know this stuff.
This is a great post. I am embarrassed thinking back on how much of take care of my eyes. I haven’t been to an eye doctor since I was a kid.
I really need to make an eye appointment (and actually go). I love these tips… I would never have thought about #1. I’m going to do it now. 🙂
My kids make it so I have to constantly clean my screen 😉
Very good tips. Eyes are often neglected but should not be. See your optometrist soon if you have not!