Eye Problems from Using Smartphones and Other Technology in Plano and Celina
Your eyelids serve an important function for your eyes and eyesight. Every time you close your eyes, or blink, your lids spread tears across your eyeball. This moistens the surface of the eye, helping to prevent dryness and irritation. Blinking is a natural function that you rarely have to think about, but people who use computers and handheld devices blink far less often than those who are looking at the real world.
Our Plano and Celina Optometrists Explains the Blinking Problem
With the increase in technology in work, school and entertainment, more people are irritating their eyes by slowing down the rate at which they blink. Our Plano and Celina eye doctors are concerned about patients who can do damage by rubbing irritated eyes caused by dryness. Some of the more common culprits for this problem are:
- Smartphones
- Laptops
- Tablets
- Ebook readers
- Desktop computers
When you concentrate on working or playing on a device with a screen such as Pokémon GO, your body often forgets to blink as often as it should. After as little as half an hour, you can feel severe dryness and itching.
Eye Blink Solutions to Help Vision
Your correct vision depends on your eyes being in good condition, and that includes feeling good without scratching or itching. The first solution to this problem is a natural one. Every thirty minutes, look away from the screen you’re using. Slowly close your eyes, as if you were dropping off to sleep, and then open them again. Repeat this ten times. Doing this every half hour should keep your eyes well lubricated.
If the blinking exercises don’t do enough, try lubricating wetting drops. These aren’t the same drops as those advertised to get red out of your eyes. True lubricating drops are often stored in the contact lens solution section of your drugstore.
Eye doctors all agree that staring at a screen for hours at a time can result in temporary or even permanent damage to your eyesight. For more information or answers to your questions, Contact our optometrists at Lone Star Vision in Plano and Celina today.