How to play on the computer without spoiling your eyesight. Losing vision from the computer? We reveal the secrets of recovery. "Poor vision can get better with age"
Working on a personal computer has long become a necessary element of life, tightly included in both work and leisure.
For some, their main work is connected with the computer, and in this case, they can no longer spend hours and days at it.
Can vision deteriorate in such conditions? It is not so easy to answer this question unambiguously, because the health of our eyes depends on a huge number of factors.
Why does vision deteriorate?
It should be said right away that the computer itself does not reduce visual acuity, contrary to a widespread myth.
There is nothing obviously harmful to the eyes in the monitor image, and stories about some harmful electron beams are fiction and a ridiculous horror story.
Evolutionarily, the eye has already adapted to long and monotonous reading of small text, so small text on the monitor cannot be a harmful factor either.
But how, then, to explain the fact that some people working at a computer have deteriorating eyesight? The fact is that although the radiation of this device is not harmful in itself, in the presence of other negative circumstances, it can act as an aggravating factor.
If a person is genetically predisposed to developing myopia, or if he is already old enough for the symptoms of farsightedness to appear, or if he has problems with the cardiovascular system, which gives a complication to vision.
In all these cases, working at a computer can exacerbate and accelerate the degradation of the visual organs.
The blinking mode when working at a computer differs from the usual one; on average, the eye blinks three times less often in this case. This leads to its withering, which is the first negative factor.
Incorrect lighting, when either the screen is too bright compared to the background, or vice versa, the environment is too bright compared to the screen, is also unpleasant for the eyes.
In the first case, the eyes will get tired of the contrast, and in the second case, the screen will light up and the eyes will have to strain to see the image. All this leads to excessive eye strain, the accumulation of their fatigue.
There are sensations of sand in the eyes, tension, vision is "clouded". Finally, too long work also does not have a positive effect on the eyes.
In healthy people, this disappears within a few tens of minutes after completion of work, but in those who are predisposed to visual impairment, this is an aggravating factor for the accelerated development of eye diseases.
In this case, you need to treat the proper organization of work at the computer with more care and follow the recommendations below.
Yes, and healthy people will not interfere with their performance, because even without the risk of visual impairment, constant dryness in the eyes is not pleasant.
Prevention
Preventive measures for the proper organization of the workplace significantly reduce the chance of degradation of the visual organs, they are useful for the eyes and the body as a whole.
The first thing you need to do is set up your monitor. Set the image refresh rate to 75 hertz. On the Windows operating system, this is done in the monitor settings in the control panel.
Keep it clean, dust it regularly with a special cloth, they are sold in kits in computer stores.
Decreasing the brightness of the screen in pursuit of a long laptop or tablet is a bad idea.
Eyestrain when trying to see a dim image is too high a price to pay for saving battery power.
If they are out of your field of vision, then move the monitor away or sit further away from it. The optimal distance is 70 centimeters.
It is desirable to work at a computer in a sitting position, do not lie down. The light source should not be behind the screen if it is the only one in the room.
Once an hour, get up from behind the monitor and do light exercises. It is enough just to move your arms and legs, walk around the room, do breathing exercises.
Also try to blink as often as possible during this time to keep your eyes moist. Moisturizing also contributes to the intake of the optimal amount of fluid in the body.
Do not work at the monitor at night, try to give yourself a full sleep at seven to eight hours.
Lead an active lifestyle, move more. This will increase the whole tone of the body, you will be tired when working in front of the monitor for much longer. Still, such measures contribute to the normalization of cerebral circulation, and the health of your eyes directly depends on it.
It will not be superfluous to conduct regular gymnastics for the eyes. These include exercises to change the focus of the gaze, as well as exercises to follow the gaze of moving objects.
For an adult, the maximum time spent on a computer and other electronic devices (phones, tablets) is no more than eight hours. Children 15-18 years old can work for 5 hours.
Younger students are allowed to spend at the computer no more than two hours. And preschoolers should not be allowed to use gadgets for more than 15 minutes.
This will protect their vision from excessive stress, which is especially detrimental during the formation of the eyeball.
To prevent computer vision from spoiling, you can additionally use the tips from the following articles:
Medications
Do not forget about the need for good nutrition, which will satisfy the body's need for minerals and vitamins. Vitamins A and B are especially important for the eyes.
If your diet is poor and does not contain enough vitamins, then make up for this deficiency by consuming pharmacy products. Standard complexes, such as Revit or Complivit, are well suited.
To moisturize the eyes, you can instill (several times a day) artificial tears and similar preparations. If visual acuity decreases, then you need to use medications that match your diagnosis.
So, with myopia (the most common consequence of working at a computer), emoxipin, taufon, quinax will help you. But do not rush to start taking any drugs at the first sign of visual impairment.
First, be sure to consult a doctor - it is likely that you have begun to see worse due to beriberi or ordinary overexertion, and then you will not necessarily undergo drug therapy.
If the visual impairment is too great and continues to worsen despite the observance of preventive measures, then only surgical intervention, vision correction, will help here.
This picture shows the correct body position in which the eyes will not be so tired from working at the computer monitor:
Results
The computer cannot spoil vision, it does not have any negative effect on the eyes, the radiation of its screen is ordinary light radiation, no different from other light sources.
At the same time, some features of working behind it can lead to increased eye fatigue and their drying out. This is due to the fact that a person rarely blinks at work, sits too close and spends too much time in front of the screen.
What you need to keep your eyesight in good condition.
1. Smoking. Tobacco smoke can damage the blood supply to the eyes and the retina.
2. Vitamins and healthy eating. You must consume Zeaxanthin daily. As a rule, these carotenoids are present in the composition of yellow-orange fruits, such as oranges, apricots, peaches, persimmons and in dark green vegetables, for example, in cucumbers, sweet peppers. They are found in large quantities in pumpkin, carrots and tomatoes. Vitamin B2. The heart, fish products, yeast and liver with kidneys are rich in this vitamin. All these vitamins protect the retina and help you prevent cataracts.
3. Essential fatty acids. They are typically found in dark green leafy vegetables and oils (vegetables). Children need these fatty foods in order for their eyes to develop properly. Adults also need to consume such foods in order to avoid any eye diseases. Optometrists believe that adding these foods to your diet will reduce your risk of disease by 20%.
4. Points. If the bright sun is shining with might and main on the street, then by all means wear glasses! Yes, the type of glasses is not specified. It can be both sunglasses and optical glasses. Because any glass will protect your eyes. The main thing is that the glasses you buy are of high quality, and the cheap stuff will not protect your eyes.
5. Reading. Reading lying down is the path to poor eyesight. The distance between your eyes and the book should be at least 30 centimeters. Adjust your lighting! It should fall on the page on the left or top. Book lovers, you will be upset, but you need to read no more than 45 minutes, but if you pause for 15 minutes, while closing your eyes, you will unload your eye muscle. Be sure, when you feel that your eyes are overstrained, transgress to exercises, for example, fix your gaze into the distance.
6. TV. In general, the TV is currently going out of fashion, and the computer is coming to its post. But if you are fond of various television programs, you should know that during the day the consecration should be darkened, and in the evening, on the contrary, turn on all the light sources closest to the TV. In order not to cause much damage to the eyes, do not watch TV for more than two hours in a row, taking breaks of one hour.
7. Exercises for the eyes. Different ophthalmologists have different opinions, but many experts come to the conclusion that no glasses can replace eye gymnastics. This is not just a way to relax the eyes, but also to stop the disease. With it, you can improve your eyesight and not be afraid of the appearance of eye diseases.
8. Ophthalmologist. Even the regular use of vitamins, limiting TV viewing and computer use will not replace your doctor! It is necessary to visit an optometrist at least once a year or two.
9. Safety glasses. There are special goggles that are used by people in swimming pools, when working at a computer, etc. They help protect the cornea of the eye.
Myopia is “getting younger”: according to statistics, 5% of Russian schoolchildren go to grade 1 with poor eyesight, by grade 11 there are already 25-30% of them, and by the end of the university 50-70% of graduates have poor vision. We are sure that poor eyesight is a sore subject for a huge number of our readers. In this material, we have collected 11 tips “on the contrary”. If you want to keep your eyesight sharp, by no means follow them!
Read from smartphone
Perceiving information from the smartphone screen, we usually keep it a few centimeters closer than normal. A small font, a narrow screen - this makes us bring the smartphone close to our eyes, squint, and considering how many hours a day we “stick” on the phone, it is not surprising that our eyesight gradually shrinks.Since 1997, when cell phones became commonplace, the number of complaints of poor vision has increased by 35%, according to a study by the London Eye Clinic Focus. This phenomenon is called "screen myopia".
Ideally, the distance "eyes - phone screen" should be 30 centimeters (and the distance to the monitor - 60 cm, to the TV - 3 meters). Remember to blink more often and take a break every 20 minutes: look into the distance at a distance of 20 meters for 20 seconds (rule "20/20/20").
Watch TV in the dark
We want to tell you right away that this item also applies to smartphones, computers and readers. Due to the contrast between the brightness of the screen and the surrounding darkness, the eyes have to constantly adapt to the lightning-changing light flux. This leads to fatigue, redness and dryness of the eyes, headache. Therefore, it is better to work with gadgets in the light, and even more so do not type text on the keyboard in the dark. 
Sleep in contact lenses
We at Know Everything know from our own experience how great the temptation is to fall asleep without taking off your contact lenses, when you are already comfortable in your bed and do not want to go to a distant and cold bathroom. But it is better to overcome this desire.Eyes with lenses receive less oxygen. Doctors recommend not wearing lenses all day, but changing them to glasses in the late afternoon. Most forget the recommendations of doctors and wear lenses from the moment they wake up until they go to bed. This is already not good, but depriving the eyes of oxygen and rest at night is a crime against oneself, you risk getting oxygen starvation of the cornea. For the same reason, do not neglect the terms of wearing lenses and wear two weeks for three months.
In addition, in a dream, the lens can scratch the cornea. And if the next morning you do not give your eyes a rest from the lenses and do not use a healing ointment, the injury will only worsen. The risk of infection increases. Corneal erosion can form, which in especially neglected cases leads to the formation of a thorn.
rub your eyes
In no case should you rub tired or irritated eyes - it is very easy to damage the blood vessels. It is better to apply a cold compress to the eyelids. 
Overdo it with eye drops
Although eye drops are indispensable in the fight against dry eyes, too much use, paradoxically, will lead to irritation. The American Academy of Ophthalmology even claims that most eye drops for everyday use do not affect the well-being of the eyeball, but simply make the whites less red.Eat unbalanced
Yes, a balanced diet is important for vision. Pay attention not only to beta-carotene and vitamin A: vitamins C and E, zinc, and omega-3 fatty acids will have a good effect on the condition of the eyes. Ophthalmologists recommend including vegetable oils, citrus fruits, whole grains, nuts, leafy greens, and fish in your diet. 
Do not wear sunglasses on clear days
Don't go out into the sun without sunglasses. They block harmful UV rays, help to avoid the effects of bright light: headache, blurred vision and redness of the eyes. 
Forget about protective accessories
According to statistics, about 45% of mechanical injuries of the eyeball occur at home or in the country, and the most traumatic activities: hammer nails, mow grass, cook and use hair curlers. Therefore, do not forget about protection: wear special glasses when working with tools, and when cooking, cover your eyes with glasses without diopters so that oil splashes do not get into them.Stay in a smoky room
It has been proven that cigarette smoke increases the risk of cataracts, inflammation of the choroid, as well as macular degeneration syndrome, that is, dysfunction of the macula, the area in the middle of the retina responsible for the sharpness of central vision. Not only smokers are at risk, but also people who are nearby.Do not remove makeup
Not so long ago, we talked about the experiment of a British journalist: she decided not to wash her face at all for 30 days, including not washing off her makeup, but applying a new one over the old one. On the 10th day, due to the remnants of the mascara, her eye became inflamed. So, as with contact lenses, forget about sleeping in war paint. 
In general, any cosmetics used in the eye area should be approached with caution: eyeliner, shadows, mascara, foundation, cream for the skin around the eyes. Do not use non-certified products ordered from China. In addition, doctors advise not to use mascara and eyeliner for more than three months from opening the package, as cosmetics can become a breeding ground for bacteria.
Don't get enough sleep
In addition to other consequences that we talked about in this material, sleep deprivation harms the eyes: dryness, twitching, pain appear, objects become blurry. Treat your eyes to at least seven hours of sleep, and remember not to look at your smartphone before bed. 
Do not visit an ophthalmologist
Many symptoms of eye diseases, such as glaucoma, can only be detected by a doctor at an early stage. Moreover, other serious diseases, such as diabetes and blood pressure problems, can be diagnosed “through the eyes”. Therefore, visit the eye doctor once a year if you do not have vision problems, and once every six months if you wear lenses, suffer from myopia, or have been in a serious accident. Students are encouraged to have their vision checked before and after the school year. 
We invite you to find out what will happen to the body if you completely give up sugar.
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Today, there are many professions where you need to spend a lot of time at the computer. And we all understand that our health is deteriorating from this, and especially - vision. Today's article will be devoted to the preservation of vision and health in general when working at a computer.
I myself spend quite a lot of time at the computer, because this is my job and I think there are quite a few like me. But just recently, I began to worry about my health when I realized that it began to deteriorate. I took seriously the restoration of my vision, began to study, and this helped me to maintain it and prevent further deterioration, and without reducing the time spent at the PC, that is, I work the same way. These tips will definitely help you too. The most important thing is not to be lazy, but to give it a little time and then everything will be fine with your vision.
How not to spoil your eyesight while working at a computer? In order not to run our eyesight, we will use special exercises for the eyes. But first, I would like to give a few tips on the environment of your workplace:
Arrange good lighting near your monitor, it should be a lamp with warm tones.
Fine tune the screen brightness and image sharpness/contrast. It doesn't have to be a dim screen where you have to squint to read anything. And also, on the contrary, it should not be, eyes too quickly get tired of too bright. Best of all, the screen brightness is adjusted on a white background, just open a blank Microsoft Word document or a bright picture, and then select the optimal brightness for your eyes, as you yourself would be best.
The monitor should be slightly above eye level, at a distance of approximately 40 cm.
It is desirable after each hour of work at the computer, give your eyes a rest for 10-15 minutes. At this time, you can do some exercises that you will find just below.
Eye exercises:
We look around, move our eyes to the left and right, without holding our gaze for a long time.
We drive the same way, only up and down.
We look at the corners, up to the left, down to the right, up to the right and down to the left, just move our eyes diagonally.
We make circles with our eyes clockwise, then counterclockwise.
We “draw” the number 8 with our eyes, then the sign of infinity.
A very effective exercise is the following: first we look at some object near, then we look at another object that is already far away and thus we look back and forth.
Attention. All of these exercises should be done carefully, not to the point of pain in the eyes, it is forbidden to do any of these exercises if you have recently had eye surgery, but I doubt that in this case you would sit at the computer for a long time.
Some more helpful tips:
The eyes need rest, and they rest best in the dark. After applying the exercises (listed above), you can give your eyes a rest (do palming), for this you need to close your eyes and tightly cover with your palms so that there is complete darkness, so hold for at least a minute. Doctors recommend palming before starting exercises to relax the eyes.
It would be nice to wash yourself with cold water, as well as ventilate, for example, go out on the balcony for a while, get some fresh air, after a long work at the computer - this is the very thing.
It is also known that whoever looks at the monitor screen blinks less often, so you can add one more exercise - blink your eyes, only quickly.
Method "20-20-20-20?.
This method, developed by doctors at the University of Texas, allows you to fight eye fatigue and save vision, especially for those who spend a lot of time at the computer. Why is the method called “20-20-20-20?? This is because it uses four such rules: every 20 minutes of working at the computer, take a 20 second break, during which you should look at objects located at a distance of 20 feet (~ 6 meters) and at the same time, blink at least 20 times . So it turns out the rule of "four twenty" for training the eyes. Many claim that this is a very powerful exercise, allowing you to save your eyesight while working at a computer.
If you spend a lot of time in front of the monitor, you can earn computer vision syndrome. Symptoms are as follows: it becomes difficult to refocus the gaze from near objects to distant ones, dryness, burning and severe eye strain are felt, the head hurts and it seems that something has got into the eyes - I want to “scratch” them. Familiar? All this can be avoided, even if you work a lot at the computer - just follow simple rules.
With the help of an ophthalmologist from the Treatment and Rehabilitation Center of the Russian Ministry of Health, Maria Bayzulaeva, we have prepared tips for those who cannot be taken away from the monitor.
Position the screen correctly
Eyes should be more than 14 degrees above the center of the monitor, 15-20 is recommended. It is important to look at the computer a little from above - it is more comfortable for the neck and the eyes dry out less, because they do not need to be kept wide open all the time.
Buy a good monitor
Don't skimp on an anti-glare monitor, especially if you're working in front of a window. The screen resolution should be high, because a low-quality, low-contrast picture makes the eyes strain more.
Watch out for brightness
The illumination levels of the display and the workplace must match. Do not work in the dark with the lights off. If the room is bright, increase the brightness of the monitor as well.
Follow the 20/20/20 rule
It was invented by foreign ophthalmologists as suitable for the modern fast pace of life. It says: "Every 20 minutes, take 20 seconds and look 20 feet away", - every 20 minutes you need to take a break for 20 seconds and look at an object that is 20 feet (6 meters) away.
Blink more often or use hydrating drops
Normally, a person blinks every 10 seconds, which contributes to the renewal of the tear film and thorough moisturizing of the eyes. It has been proven that during prolonged work at the monitor this happens less often, which causes dry eye syndrome. If your eyes often hurt and redden, you feel as if sand has got into them - perhaps this is it. In this case, artificial tears can be used. They come in varying degrees of viscosity and are selected by an ophthalmologist depending on the severity of the syndrome.
Protect your eyes with computer glasses
You can buy special glasses with anti-reflective coating. This is especially true for people with refractive errors, that is, the refraction of light rays in the eye. If you use reading glasses, those that have a transition from the near zone to the intermediate zone are suitable for working at a computer - in order to comfortably look from paper documents to the monitor.
Be sure to do eye exercises
When you look at the monitor, the muscle responsible for vision at close range works. With constant tension, it spasms. This is a spasm of accommodation, which leads to the fact that by the end of the working day we see objects in the distance blurry. So that the muscle does not freeze in the “myopic” position, it is necessary to periodically shift your gaze from near to far.
Do at least one simple exercise - the "mark on the glass" suggested by Dr. E.S. Avetisov. The technique is as follows: look at an object located at a distance of 30-35 centimeters from the eyes for 1-2 seconds, then for the same time look at the object 30 meters away from you, and then look at the near object again. It is enough to do the exercise at least 5 minutes a day.
Eat foods rich in lutein
Lutein is a pigment that protects the eyes from damage, like a kind of light filter, blocking harmful ultraviolet radiation. When it is lacking, the retina is more susceptible to destruction. It enhances sharpness and visual acuity. There is a lot of this substance in spinach, parsley, pumpkin, pistachios. In carrots, which many consider a panacea for the eyes, it is already present, but almost 50 times less than in spinach.
It's really better for children not to sit at the computer all day
In adults, the symptoms associated with a long stay at the computer disappear with proper rest. But in children, during the formation of vision, excessive eye work at close range leads to the development of myopia and astigmatism. Data from international studies demonstrate the progression of visual pathologies in children who spend little time outdoors. Therefore, young IT people who cannot live without a computer should definitely compensate for the strain on their eyes with relaxing exercises and a healthy lifestyle.
Life hack: how to suspect vision problems in time
Ride a bike - you need good eyesight for this. You will immediately notice if it starts to fall, and solve the problem in time. Unfortunately, many people do not use long-range vision at all in everyday life. Therefore, deterioration is noticed when it is difficult to distinguish the faces of acquaintances on the street.
And even better - upgrade your skills so that you get big fees by working just a few hours a day. Your eyes will definitely thank you!
