How to Prevent Eye Strain While Working From Home

Working from home has become the new normal for many Americans during this pandemic.  Most are happy without the commute, although working outside the office and in all sorts of strange places, such as bedrooms, backyards, living rooms, has become common place. We’ve had to learn how to work remotely, which in turn means spending a lot more time using computers and smartphones.

Moving out of properly-lit classrooms and offices – and away from ergonomically correct desks – can have long-term effects on our eyes.  Excessive time at a computer screen under the best conditions can lead to symptoms of eye strain.

Eye Strain Symptoms include:

  • Headaches
  • Blurred vision
  • Uncomfortable dry eyes
  • Neck and shoulder pain

To help avoid eye strain, here are few tips for working from home:

  • Record time spent on screens – Most adults age 18 and older spend at least 13 hours each day using digital devices. Extended screen time can cause discomfort and vision difficulties. When working from home, you may lose track of how much time you’re on your computer or smartphone.  So keep track of the hours you use devices. That way, you’ll be aware of the demand you’re placing on your eyes.
  • Rest and blink your eyes – Researchers found that over 30% of people using digital devices rarely take time to rest their eyes. Just over 10% say they never take a break, even when working from home. The eye muscles get overworked and don’t get a chance to relax and recover. Experts suggest the 20-20-20 rule; every 20 minutes, focus your eyes and attention on something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.  You can also get up and walk around for a few minutes.

 

  • Reduce exposure to blue light – In the spectrum of light, blue is more high energy and close to ultraviolet light. So, if you use screens throughout the day, ask your eye doctor about the value of computer glasses that block blue light. Reducing exposure to blue light may help lessen vision problems.  At home, using digital devices until bedtime can overstimulate your brain and make it more difficult to fall asleep. Eye doctors recommend no screen time at least one to two hours before going to sleep.

  

  • Sit up straight – Proper posture is important. Your back should be straight and your feet on the floor while you work. Elevate your wrists slightly instead of resting them on the keyboard.

 

 

  • Proper lighting – A setting that’s too bright (sunny backyard) or too dim (cavernous basement) can cause eye strain and headaches. Your screen should be bright enough that you don’t need to squint. A screen shield can help reduce glare.

 

  • Set up monitor properly – Make sure your computer screen is about 25 inches, or an arm’s length, away from your face. The center of the screen should be about 10-15 degrees below eye level.  Cut glare by using a matte screen filter. You can find them for all types of computers, phones, and tablets.  Increase font size or set the magnification of the documents you are reading to a comfortable size.

 

  • Consider computer glasses –For the greatest comfort at your computer, you might benefit from having your eye doctor modify your eyeglasses prescription to create customized computer glasses. This is especially true if you normally wear distance contact lenses, which may also become dry and uncomfortable during extended screen time.  Computer glasses also are a good choice if you wear bifocals or progressive lenses, because these lenses generally are not optimal for the distance to your computer screen.
  • Create Technology-Free Zones – These tips can help reduce eye strain when you’re forced to look at screens all day, creating technology-free zones in certain areas of your home, like the bedroom or bathroom. If you spend the entire day working on the computer, getting in bed and scrolling through social media until you fall asleep won’t do your eyes any favors.

Once you’re done for the day, truly unplug. Read a book or spend some quality time with family members without your phone.

 

  • Get an Eye Exam – If you have tried all these tips and eye strain is still an issue, it might be time to see an eye care professional to schedule an eye exam.  The exam may even detect underlying issues before they becomes worse.

 

 

 

 

 

What To Expect On Your Next Visit To Your Eye Care Practitioner During COVID-19 Pandemic

Taking care of your health is critical and you may have concerns related to eye health as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The offices of Ophthalmologists and Optometrists are resuming the delivery of comprehensive eye and vision care and implementing new protocols to provide care in a safe and healthy environment.

While changes vary from state-to-state as well as individual practice locations, patients should expect that their eye doctors, like all medical professionals, are adhering to federal, state and local health directives regarding infection prevention measures and implementing appropriate safety procedures to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission within the office. These not only include strict protocols for cleaning and sterilization, but measures to effectively manage patient flow and encourage physical distancing. Patients should expect screenings for symptoms of COVID-19 and taking patients’ temperature upon their arrival at the facility, limiting the number of guests allowed in waiting rooms and requiring everyone to wear a facemask and/or gloves before entering the office.

Prior to the appointment, you should be asked a series of questions such as whether you have been diagnosed with COVID-19, whether you have been exposed to anyone who has an active COVID infection, and whether you have any of the typical symptoms of a COVID-19 infection including fever, cough, shortness of breath, or some impairment of your sense of taste or smell. You may also be asked about recent travel history. If there is a concern that you may have COVID-19 infection, then the appointment may be rescheduled to a later date.

Once you get to the office, you will be interviewed again to see if you have any symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 infection. You may be asked to have your temperature taken with a non-contact thermometer and to wash your hands or scrub your hands with hand sanitizer before entering the office. You may be asked not to bring any family members or assistants with you.

Every patient (and anyone accompanying the patient) is required to wear a mask, and the mask must be worn properly, covering both the nose and mouth. The mask must be worn through the entire visit, and conversations with the doctor or staff will be limited. The tests that are used to monitor glaucoma may be performed with modified protocols to minimize the time you spend at the office.

How to Prepare for Your Eye Doctor Visit

  • Don’t go if you’re feeling sick. If you wake up with a cough or a sore throat, it’s probably best to reschedule your appointment and call your primary physician. Your routine eye exam can wait. Don’t be surprised if someone takes your temperature upon arrival to ensure safety for everyone.
  •  Fill out forms in advance. If possible, fill out your intake forms online before your appointment. This will limit your face-to-face contact and your overall time within the office. Any additional information that’s requested by your doctor can also be done over the phone.
  • Follow social distancing guidelines. There may be new procedures in place to help with social distancing, from markers on the ground indicating where to stand, to a limited number of people allowed in certain areas. Depending upon the office location, you may need to call from your car to check in. Every office is different, so be sure to check with your doctor’s office about their requirements.
  • Go alone to your appointment. Most offices are only allowing the patient to enter the office, with the exception of those who require a caregiver or a guardian to attend the appointment with them. This limits the amount of people going in and out of the office, and helps maintain a more sterile, clean environment.
  • Wear a mask to your appointment. Depending on your state, a mask may either be mandated or highly recommended when you are in public places. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highly advises people to wear a mask covering their nose and their mouth in order to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

As your eye care doctors begin reopening and operations proceed under a “new normal,” your ophthalmologist and/or optometrist are working to ensure the continued safe delivery of essential eye care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To know exactly what to expect during your appointment, call your doctor’s office to find out how to best prepare for your visit.

Coronavirus and Your Eyes: What you should know

Coronavirus (COVID-19) can cause mild to severe respiratory illness. Symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath and pink eye can show up 2 to 14 days after a person is exposed. People with severe infections can develop pneumonia and even die from complications of the illness.

To cut your personal risk of contracting the COVID-19, avoid touching your eyes, nose, mouth and face with unwashed hands. It is the mucous membranes (membranes that line various cavities in the body) that are most susceptible to transmission of the virus.

To avoid infecting others with the coronavirus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended the use of face masks to be worn when out in public. Face masks can reduce the spread of coronavirus by people who are infected but have no symptoms of the virus (asymptomatic). Face masks, however, do not protect your eyes from infection.

Here are a few tips on how to protect yourself and others:

1. Practice safe hygiene and social distancing — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offer these general guidelines to slow the spread of disease:

  • Wash your hands often with soap and hot water for at least 20 seconds. (Singing Happy Birthday twice is about 20 seconds)
  •  You should especially wash your hands before eating, after using the restroom, sneezing, coughing or blowing your nose.
  • If you can’t get to a sink, use a hand sanitizer that has at least 60% alcohol.
  • Avoid touching your face — particularly your eyes, nose, and mouth.
  • If you cough or sneeze, cover your face with your elbow or a tissue. If you use a tissue, throw it away promptly. Then go wash your hands.
  • Avoid close contact with sick people. If you think someone has a respiratory infection, it’s safest to stay 6 feet away.
  • Stay home when you are sick.
  • Regularly disinfect commonly touched surfaces and items in your house, such as doorknobs, refrigerator door handles and counter tops.

2. Coronavirus may cause pink eye, so avoid touching eye discharge — Someone may have pink eye but it doesn’t mean that person is infected with coronavirus. But a recent study suggests that up to one third of people hospitalized with coronavirus experience eye problems, such as viral pink eye or conjunctivitis. It’s important to know that the virus can spread by touching fluid from an infected person’s eyes, or from objects that carry the fluid.

3. Avoid rubbing your eyes — We all tend to do it and natural habits can be hard to break but doing so will lower your risk of infection. Use a tissue instead of your fingers when you feel the urge to rub your eye or even to adjust your glasses. Dry eyes can lead to more rubbing, so consider adding moisturizing drops to your eye routine. If you must touch your eyes for any reason wash your hands first with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Then wash them again afterwards.

4. If you wear contact lenses, consider switching to glasses for a while — There’s no evidence that wearing contact lenses increases your risk of coronavirus infection although contact lens wearers touch their eyes more than the average person. Substituting glasses for contacts can decrease irritation and will lower the chances of you touching your eye. If you choose to continue wearing contact lenses, follow these hygiene tips.

5. Make sure you are well supplied on eye medicine prescriptions if you can — During this pandemic experts have advised patients to stock up on critical medications, enough to get by if you are quarantined or if supplies become limited. If your insurance allows you to get more than 1 month of essential eye medicine, such as glaucoma drops, you should do so. Some insurers will approve a 3-month supply of medication in times of natural disaster. Ask your pharmacist or ophthalmologist for help if you have trouble getting approval from your insurance company. Don’t wait until the last minute to contact your pharmacy, request a refill as soon as you’re due.

 

IF YOU’RE NOT FEELING WELL – Call your family doctor. If you suspect you may have pink eye (conjunctivitis), call an eye doctor near you. It is suggested that patients not go directly to medical or eye care facilities without a prior phone call to help to decrease the possible spread of the virus. A phone call allows the health facility to prepare for your visit and diagnose and treat you in a proper manner.
You may feel nervous about going to the doctor’s office during this pandemic. But treatment for eye emergencies should not be delayed. Ophthalmologists, like all medical professionals, follow strict hygiene and disinfection guidelines.

Ophthalmologists are available to treat urgent eye issues, deliver eye injections and provide critical care. Call your ophthalmologist or other medical doctor as soon as possible in the following situations:

  • You have macular degeneration or diabetic retinopathy and get regular eye injections.
  • You notice changes in your vision (like blurry, wavy or blank spots in your field of vision).
  • You experience an eye injury, even if it seems minor.
  • You suddenly lose some vision.
  • You have eye pain, headache, red eye, nausea and vomiting.

Protect yourself and the eye care team by following these precautions:

  • Wear a mask to a medical appointment. The mask should cover your nose and mouth.
  • If you have a cough or a fever, or have been in close contact with someone who has these symptoms, you must call your doctor’s office ahead of time and let them know. After you speak with the health care profession, it may be decided that your visit is not an emergency, and you can be treated at home. If you arrive sick at the doctor’s office, you should wear a protective covering or mask, and they may want you to wait in a special room away from other patients.
  • If you need to cough or sneeze during your exam, move back from the microscope. Bury your face in the crook of your arm or cover your face with a tissue. Wash your hands with soap and water right away.

For more Coronavirus information visit: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus

For more information about the Discovery Eye Foundations new research for Coronavirus vaccine visit: www.discoveryeye.org/covid-19-emergency-research/

WARZONE

A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM DEF’S AMBASSADOR OF VISION

At this writing, the death toll from CoronaVirus (COVID-19) has just surpassed 60,000 with over 1 million cases reported in the US. It is almost impossible to comprehend the scope of this horrific pandemic, and the price that is being paid by healthcare professionals along with so many families who are unable to say goodbye to their loved ones who have often been forced to die alone.

At the same time, it was striking to learn that the four month death toll from the virus has just eclipsed the number of lives lost in the entire Vietnam War. We have heard the pandemic described as a war fought against a hidden enemy. While healthcare professionals confront the enemy in overcrowded hospitals across our country, there are others working just as hard in search of solutions that will allow us to return to our treasured normal way of life.

Researchers are quiet heroes laboring in laboratories in virtual anonymity, but with the same urgency as the healthcare professionals serving on the front lines of the battlefield. Whether it is in search of a vaccine or of a drug that may increase the possibility of overcoming the virus, the Discovery Eye Foundation is presently funding some of the critical efforts. As in past wars, all of us must do our part in the effort to defeat an enemy that continues its death march across the entire American landscape. No city or town, state or county, is immune from the icy hand of this most Grim Reaper.

I was attending college at the height of the Vietnam War, and I remember watching the evening news as the death toll continued to mount. Somehow, I found myself numb and somewhat insulated even as the numbers of casualties kept rising. It all changed when two of my friends from high school were lost during the 1968 Tet Offensive. Death became oh-so-real. We cannot allow the constant media exposure to dampen our awareness and our commitment to finding a cure and achieving complete victory in this all-out war.

When you contribute to Discovery Eye Foundations COVID-19 Emergency Fund, your funds go directly into the hands of the researchers. Even more important, their work will begin immediately. Your generosity has allowed us to be difference makers in the preservation of vision. Please join us as we enter the fight and turn our attention to finding answers to this most lethal and present danger.

To help the Discovery Eye Foundation join the fight against COVID-19, donate today!

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Tom Sullivan
DEF’s Ambassador of Vision
sullivanvision.com

COVID-19 EMERGENCY RESEARCH

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A MESSAGE FROM ANTHONY B. NESBURN, DEF PRESIDENT & MEDICAL DIRECTOR

 

The world is being held hostage by coronavirus (COVID-19). The number of cases and deaths are climbing everyday. Scientists and pharmaceutical companies are working feverishly to create a vaccine, but it is at least a year away. There is also hope that existing FDA-approved drugs, such as hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, may be able to ameliorate the disease and prevent deaths.  These need to be tested now—see below.

During this emergency, DEF Research Director Dr. Cristina Kenney’s laboratory is applying the knowledge gained from her work on age-related macular degeneration to join the search for drug(s) that may be an immediate bridge to treat COVID-19.

Much of Kenney’s research focuses on mitochondria, which play a vital role in disease and death from infections such as COVID-19. Mitochondria may help explain the severity of disease and response to treatment in different ethnic populations and age groups.

Kenney will focus on two crucial COVID-19 studies using her unique laboratory systems:

  1. Determine which promising experimental treatments for COVID-19 patients are most likely to benefit which patients.
  2. Determine the role of mitochondria in susceptibility to severe COVID-19 disease and death in different ethnic/racial populations and age groups.

UPDATE: DEF Researchers Making Progress in the Fight to Defeat COVID-19

Join us and others in supporting this work. At this critical juncture, any financial help you are able to provide to our vital research efforts to stop the scourge of coronavirus is greatly needed and deeply appreciated. 

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For more information on COVID-19 go to www.coronavirus.gov