 Sight
is Priceless... Preserve It.
What can you do for your Vision to make Learning and Earning
easier?
Symptoms such as headaches, squinting, burning, acy, watery, or
tired eyes are all indicators that your visual system needs help.
Vision, however, is learned, and the way you use and care for your
vision system directly affects your enjoyment of play, school or
work.
Your visual system can undergo tremendous stress these days. Students
now read three times the number of textbooks as their grandparents
did. Adults constantly use their vision at work and play. The shift
to computers has engaged a growing number of workers in prolonged,
near-vision tasks.
Eye discomfort, headaches, blurred vision, lowered visual performance -
a wide array of vision-linked problems - are related to this
heavy nearpoint vision load.
 Human
beings were not designed to do constant seeing less than an arm's
length away. We have hunter-soldier eyes for survival, spotting
game and enemies at a distance. Only in the last half of the century
have so many people been forced to deal with sustained near visual
tasks. The result has been constant stress on the visual system,
producing symptoms and eye problems.
Many vision and eye problems are the direct result of an adaptation
(or failure to adapt) to these relatively new, near-centered visual
tasks.
It is no wonder that ignoring good visual hygiene, the impact of
long-term stress and failing to heed symptoms of vision problems
can have such a significant effect on the quality and enjoyment
of your life.
How to Take Better Care of Your Vision
Here are some guidelines for reducing visual stress:
- Look up occasionally - Children and adults need
to briefly look up and away from near tasks to distant objects
regularly.
- Lighting - Illumination on what you are reading
should be three times brighter than the rest of the room. Do not
read under a single lamp in a dark room. Eliminating glare is
especially important for close-up work. Mixing fluorescent and
incandescent light is good.
- Best distance - Reading, writing or close-up work
is best done at an eye-to-activity distance equal to the length
between middle knuckle and elbow (14 to 16 inches for adults).
- Sit straight - Have chest up, shoulders back and
weight over the seat so both eyes are at the eye-task and at an
equal distance from what is being seen.
- Reclining position - Sit upright while reading or
watching television in bed. Avoid lying on your back, side or
stomach.
- Writing - Hold your pencil or pen an inch or so
from the tip so you can see and hold it without tilting your head
or body to the side.
- Writing position - The hand you write with determines
the angle at which the paper should be held.
- Television - Should be viewed from a distance equal
to seven times the width of the screen (about 8-10 feet), and
while sitting upright. Have indirect lamps on in the room, but
placed to eliminate glare on the screen. Watching television involves
and develops very few visual skills and should be limited to a
few hours or less daily, especially for children.
- Participate - Do outdoor activities that require
seeing at distances. Become aware of what and where things are
on all sides. When walking keep your head up, eyes open and look
toward, not staring at, objects.
- Visual discomfort while doing close tasks - Appropriately
prescribed nearpoint lenses can reduce discomfort while making
learning, seeing, and earning easier and more efficient.
"Nothing
on this web site is intended, nor should it be construed, as professional advice.
Those reviewing the information should consult with a qualified professional."
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