A good eye care does not only mean wearing your prescribed glasses or lenses or corneal surgeries. It is just beyond that. It begins much before correcting your refractive errors. It is a should be holistically approached which includes regular eye health check-up, exercises and supplementing your diet with correct nutrition.

The pandemic of covid has brought on a lot of changes in our life and routine. These changes have vast expansion from daily household to education and to work as well. The offices are being set up at home in work from home facilities and the classrooms are getting virtual in online schools and classes. All these have increased the screen time of individuals and thereby rise in cases of ophthalmic diseases. Children being in the vulnerable to these refractive errors should be more looked after.

Online learning is associated with staring at screens all day long which can leave you squinting.¹

Gazing long at screens may give you experience of dry eye, eye strain, headache and fatigue, blurred or double vision and progressive myopia. Apart from these eye symptoms many other physical symptoms can also be experienced. Also, blue light from the screen is known to affect sleep quality and problems thereafter.¹

Though it is unavoidable and inevitable to attend classes online in ‘new normal’ era, here are some tips which you can follow to lessen the effects of these long screen hours.^1,2

• Always ensure to distance yourself from screen at least 20 inches from large screens and 13 inches from small screens.^1,2
• Stick to the 20-20-20 rule - This rule tells us to take breaks from screen every 20 minutes, focus on something 20 feet (6meterss) away, and look at it for 20 seconds.^1,2
• Check your prescription regularly and wear glasses or lenses as advised. Some eye lubricating eye drops also can be used – it is important to visit you ophthalmologist regularly and get you comprehensive eye check-up regularly for a good health of your eyes.^1,2
• Minimize display glare and use anti-glare screen protector to avoid excessive glare which may cause strain on to your eyes.^1,2
• Magnify the screen if you are viewing details on the screen to reduce eye strain.^1,2
• Adjust screen display as per the ambient light and contrast and tilt the screen bottom of the screen towards you to avoid glare.^1,2
• Be aware of your siting posture and eye comfort while watching screen too long and adjust it accordingly.^1,2
• Exercise Relieve and move your eye muscles by: Blinking, Rolling your eyes, Closing and cupping your eyes.^1,2
• Take proper healthy diet which is rich in vitamins, minerals and essential nutrients. Remember healthy diet = healthy eyes
• take a break to get a glass of water. It is important to keep you well hydrated when you are online for too long¹
• Stop any computer or mobile screen activity 1 hour before you go to bed¹
• And, of course, sleep – the very important but ignored factor is sleep. Get good quality of 7 to 9 hours of relaxing sleep every night.²

A study says that, high levels of screen time on smart devices (i.e. looking at a smart phone) is associated with around a 30% higher risk of myopia and, when combined with excessive computer use, that risk rose to around 80%.² So be aware and take care of your precious eyes.