Simple Eye Exercises to Relieve Computer Eye Strain & Stress

Just like your body needs rest, your eyes need rest too. Today, a majority of the people have jobs that require working on & looking at a computer for a long time period. This puts a severe strain on your eyes. Poor lighting, not blinking your eyes enough, not rolling your eyeballs frequently are factors that contribute to eye strain problems. Added to that, many people use smartphones throughout the day. This makes eyestrain even worse. Millions of people suffer from overworked eyes & eye stress. Eye disorders like glaucoma, dry eyes & eye pain often develop with time. Here are a few simple exercises that are easy to do & can be performed anywhere. These help in relieving eye strain & stress significantly-

1.Palming

Palming is one of the most relaxing exercises for relieving your eyes from strain & stress. This exercise requires you to rub your hands together for 10 to 15 seconds until they feel warm. After this, close your eyes & gently place your palms over them, blocking out light completely. Now breathe deeply & relax. Once your eyes feel re-energized, gently remove your hands & open your eyes slowly. You will experience deep relaxation instantly. Palming is a simple eye exercise that provides warmth & energy from the hands. It is also completely safe to perform. This exercise is very soothing & can be performed for a few seconds or for 5-8 minutes. It can be repeated 3-4 times in a day to refresh your eyes get rid of eye strain. It removes tiredness from the eyes & allows you to feel rejuvenated. It can be performed anywhere & is naturally healing.

2.Massaging The Eyes, Eyebrows & Temples

Massaging your eyes, eyebrows & temples is a simple yet excellent exercise to get rid of eye stress. This exercise is proven to reduce eye strain by increasing the blood flow to these areas. The light pressure felt during these exercises increases moistness in the eyes, which provide relief to our tired eyes. Massaging feels very relaxing. It can be done by simply closing your eyes, pressing your upper eyelids lightly & gently massaging them in a circular motion with 3 fingertips. Perform 10 clockwise & 10 anti-clockwise movements. Use your fingertips to massage your temples in a circular motion too. Repeat this 10 times each in a clockwise & anti-clockwise movement. Also, massage the point between your eyebrows. Repeat this 3 times. Massaging these areas decreases your eye stress & makes your eyes feel revitalised.

3.Blinking

The normal blink rate of a human being is about 20 times per minute but it drops to 7 times per minute when using a computer or watching television. Blinking is very important when working on a computer as it moistens your eyes & prevents dry eyes & irritation. Blinking washes your eyes with naturally therapeutic tears. A long gap between blinking leads to dehydration in the cornea & causes a burning sensation & itchiness. A dry cornea can also cause clouded vision. Non-blinking of eyes lead the tears in eyes to evaporate rapidly & cause dry eyes. This places the person at a greater risk for dry eye problems. Practice the blinking exercise on your eyes every 4-5 seconds to keep them lubricated & prevent eye strain & other eye problems. Blinking is a natural exercise but we must purposely blink to avoid eye problems & keep eye stress away.

4.Take Breaks

For every 20 minutes that you spend watching television, reading or working on the computer, it is suggested to look away & take a break. Continuously focussing your eyes on reading or watching a screen leads to eye stress & eye problems like dryness & itchiness. It is recommended to take breaks often & allow your eyes to focus on other things in the room. Your eyes need rest in between & it is a simple exercise to take a break & look away.  Here, bathrooms break can be taken as they allow you to take a light walk & let your eyes look away from the screen or from reading for some time. Constant working on the screen leads to significant discomfort & eye strain & hence we must look away & focus our visual attention on other things frequently to keep it balanced.

5.Using Computer Eyewear

For people who continuously work on computer screens, you must consider the option of using customized computer glasses. Computer glasses also are a good choice if you wear bifocals or progressive lenses, as these lenses are not optimal for the distance to your computer screen. You can also opt for photochromic lenses or lightly tinted lenses to reduce your exposure to potentially harmful blue light emitted by digital devices. Read Also: 5 Simple Exercises to Prevent Computer Vision Syndrome