Eye Exercises For those who spend a long time on computer

For most office workers, being glued to their desks while typing away at their computers for an average of 8 hours a day is already a part of their normal routine. However, sitting at the computer all day may not exactly be good for the body, as it can bring about back aches due to bad posture and eye strain, among other effects. If your work is also deskbound, or if you face the computer screen for hours, you would have these eye strain symptom:

• 1. Redness
• 2. Tearing
• 3. Itching
• 4. Swelling
• 5. Burning
• 6. Blurred vision
• 7. Headaches
• 8. Sensitivity to glare
• 9. Difficulty adjusting to light
• 10. Worsening of nearsightedness and
• 11. Decreased concentration

Any of these symptoms can also be related to more serious diseases; each needs to be considered in the context in which it occurs.Using your eyes intently for hours in an enclosed space without resting contributes not only to eye strain but also to other health problems.

When a person stares at one spot for a long period of time, the brain is focused on balancing everything-keeping the head, neck, and other parts of the body from moving. These days, people stare most intently at the computer screen. This is particularly hard on the eyes, because they’re not looking at the entire screen, but only at microimages on it. In contrast, when you watch TV, you’re following a panorama on the screen, which doesn’t require the brain to be so fixated or the body to be so restricted.

Working at a computer for long periods at a time without a break can result in a condition called “computer fatigue syndrome,” which encompasses a host of symptoms:

• 1. Eyestrain;
• 2. Heaviness of the eyelids (eye fatigue);
• 3. Blurred vision;
• 4. Flickering sensations in vision; and
• 5. Headaches

At the same time, neck and back pain can also develop and if you are also facing the same then you should also try Yoga meditation exercises for Computer users . From studies, very few people know how to rest their eye effectively. The following eye relaxation exercises will help you to relax and reduce eye fatigue. You should repeat the relaxation exercise after every 30 minutes of computer work.

1. Palming

1. Sit comfortably on a chair. Rub your hands together until they feel warm.

2. Close the eyes and cover them lightly with your cupped palms. Avoid applying pressure on your eye balls. Place the palm so that the nose remain uncovered, and the eyes remain behind the slight hollow of the palms.

3. Make sure that no light rays enter the eyes, and leave no gaps between fingers or between the edge of the palms and the nose.

4. You may still see other lingering traces of colors. Imagine deep blackness and focus on the blackness.

5. Take deep breaths slowly and evenly, think of some happy incident; or visualise a distant scene.

6. Repeat the palming for 3 minutes or more.

2. Looking at Distant Objects

Our eyes are relax when they are made to look at distance.

If you are feeling strain after working at your computer for some time, simply look out of a window or at distant objects about 5 meters away from your work area.

If you eyes feel strained, they can be rested by doing this eye relaxation exercise (i.e. looking at distant objects) for a few minutes.

3. Rythmic Movements – Head Movement

1. Close your eye. With your head, slowly and gently form a figure of 8 in air.

2. Move and breathe rythmically.

3. Continue for 3 minutes or more.

4. Rythmic Movements – Round Swing

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, arms hanging loosely at your sides.

2. Gaze at a low-lying distant object, Shift your weight to your right foot, and swing your upper body to the right, letting the heel of your left foot come up off the floor. Watch your surroundings as you swing. Breathe rythmically.

If you can see a tree out the window or in the distance, notice how it seems to move opposite to the direction you are swinging.

3. Return to the original position.

4. Continue to swing to your left similarly.

5. While doing this eye relaxation exercises, breathe rythmically and blink as you sway.

Blinking cleans and lubricates the eyes, which is especially important if you spend a lot of time in front of a computer.

6. Continue for at least 2 – 3 minutes. Repeat 100 times daily.

5. Rythmic Movements – Bar Swings

1. Find a window or a door which has verticle bars or grill.

2. Gaze through the bars, and look at distant objects.

3. Sway slowly and rythmically, just like the pendulum of a clock. Keep your breathing rythmically too.

4. Transfer your weight from one foot to the other, and keep your body muscles limp and lax.

5. Repeat 100 times daily, blinking as you sway. Blinking cleans and lubricates the eyes, which is especially important if you spend a lot of time in front of a computer.

6. Continue for 2 – 3 minutes or more.

6. Face and Eye Massage

This eye relaxation exercise is effective in relieving the tension in the facial and eye muscles.

1. Soak a tower in warm or hot water. Rub your forehead, cheeks and neck vigorously with the tower. However, do not rub your eyes.

2. After this, gently massage your forehead and your closed eyelids with finger tips.

7. Splash Water on Closed Eyes

1. Sprinkle cold water from a running tap on the closed eyes for a few seconds.

2. Allow the water on the face to dry on its own, and do not wipe your face dry.

8. Hot and Cold Compresses

This eye relaxation exercise helps to improve the blood circulation around the eyeballs and face.

1. Soaked small towers in hot and cold water.

2. Apply first tower (either the warm or cold one) and compress it to your face, eyebrows, closed eyelids and cheeks.

3. Apply the other, make sure you end the session with a cold compress.

These compresses open up the small blood vessels of the face and eyeballs, and therefore relieve eye strain.

Warnings

• There has never been any peer reviewed research demonstrating improvement in visual clarity by exercise. Some people have weakness in the ability to turn their eye in or out. You may have esotropia (eye naturally turned in) or exotropia (eye naturally turned out). Exercise may help these conditions.
• Consult your optometrist (eye doctor) before doing any of these exercises. The last thing you want to do is add further strain to your eyes, or damage them permanently.
• When doing these exercises, make sure that you’re not facing anybody, or that they know you’re doing eye exercises. Otherwise they might think you’ve gone nuts.
• Doing these exercises when you wear contacts may cause them to suction to your eyeball. They might also move around and possibly become folded and/or dislodged, which can be extremely uncomfortable as well.
• Do not apply pressure on your eyes.
• Wash your hands before doing these exercises to avoid getting irritants in your eye.

Precautions

To reduce computer eye strain (and body strain you develop while working at your computer) include the following:

• Set up your computer correctly. The viewing distance from the screen to the eyes should be seventeen to twenty-six inches. The correct viewing angle is 10 to 20 degrees from midscreen to the top of the screen.
• Place reference material next to the screen, with the screen and reference material at the same distance from your eyes to reduce computer eye strain.
• Adjust screen brightness and contrast properly.
• Make sure overall room illumination is no more than three times brighter than the screen.
• Use a desk lamp, if possible, instead of an overhead light to reduce computer eye strain.
• Control glare from overhead lights and uncurtained windows. Use an anti-glare screen, set up a partition, or move your terminal to an area where glare is less of a problem.
• Rest your feet firmly on the floor. The upper thighs should not touch the supporting surface of the desk or computer table.

Remember to take frequent vision breaks and perform some eye relaxation exercises(discussed above) to reduce computer eye strain.