How much time do you spend in front of your screen? You may be surprised at how quickly the time adds up. The average American worker spends seven hours a day on the computer, either in the office or working from home.
Even if you don’t work at a computer, you still squint at phone screens, tablets, and other digital screens, which may cause your eyes to suffer, leading to the development of dry eye and digital eye strain.
To make matters worse, symptoms can prevent you from getting your work done, making it take even longer! Fortunately, there are ways to combat these negative consequences, so you don’t have to spend any longer at work than you need to.
What Are the Symptoms of Dry Eyes?
Dry eye is widespread; more than 16 million Americans experience these common dry eye symptoms:
- Burning, scratchy, dry feeling
- Blurry vision
- Red eyes
- Watery eyes
- Light sensitivity
How Do Dry Eyes Make It Harder to Get Work Done?
One U.S. study found that dry eyes caused workers to lose about five minutes every seven work days. If you work about 261 days each year, that is 11 hours wasted every year!
Often, over-the-counter (OTC) treatments for dry eyes do not do the job (pun intended). Three out of every four dry eye sufferers use an OTC medication, but only one-third gets relief with these types of eye drops.
Three out of every four dry eye sufferers use an OTC medication, but only one-third gets relief with these types of eye drops. Three out of every four dry eye sufferers use an OTC medication, but only one-third gets relief with these types of eye drops.
How to Take Care Of Dry Eyes Without Sacrificing Work Productivity
- Use a microwaveable moist heat eye compress, such as the Bruder dry eye mask, to both treat your dry eyes and prevent worsening dry eye symptoms in the future.
- Stay hydrated. Keep a large bottle of water at your desk or work station and bring extra with you to work, if you can’t refill during the day.
- If you do need to wear a facemask for your job, eye doctors recommend taking mask breaks every few hours. Wearing a face mask forces more exhaled air upwards towards your eyes, drying them out.
- Who is not spending more hours a day on video calls? Don’t forget the blinking exercises and the 20-20-20 rule recommended by the American Optometric Association to reduce dry eyes, eye strain, and Zoom fatigue.
- Try bringing a humidifier to your work or home office.
- Some doctors recommend taking dietary fatty acid supplements, so ask your doctor whether they recommend a supplement to help your dry eyes.
- Don’t be shy about calling your eye doctor. A prescription eye drop may be helpful.
EYE CARE TIP
A Daily Eye Hygiene Routine Can Help:
- Your eyes feel more comfortable after screen use
- Relieve symptoms of dry eye
- Prevent future eye problems
How Does Routine Moist Eye Heat Therapy Help Dry Eyes?
In short, by using a comfortable heated eye compress daily, may be less distracted by discomfort at work.
How to Choose the Best Eye Mask for Dry Eyes
Microwavable eye masks are an easy, natural, low-cost self-treatment for dry eyes. Traditional warm compresses such as a washcloth or a rice bag held over your eyes for a few minutes don’t work as well as the Bruder moist heat eye compress for several reasons:
- A washcloth doesn’t stay hot enough long enough to reliably liquify the oil in the meibomian glands.
- Rice or grain-filled bags produce dry heat, not moist heat. Moist heat penetrates more deeply to release the lubricating oils from your meibomian glands.
- Rice or grain-filled eye compresses can become home to bacteria and fungus- definitely not want you want to be putting near your eyes!
- The Bruder Therapeutic Eye Mask can be easily reheated repeatedly in the microwave, for increments of 5 seconds, so you don’t have to worry about burning yourself or dealing with a cord.
- The scientifically-designed cover of the Bruder eye mask is anti-bacterial and non-allergenic, reducing the chances of causing an eye infection or irritating your sensitive eye area further.
- You can hand wash the Bruder eye mask. Buckwheat, rice, or most cold compresses can not be submerged in water.
Blurry Vision? Dry Eye and Screen Time May Be to Blame
Some of the things that keep us healthy aren’t very enjoyable, but relaxing for a few minutes each day with an eye mask while listening to your favorite music or a podcast can be pretty fantastic. In fact, moist heat eye compress therapy feels great while you’re using it and can make your workday a little better too.
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Warm compress for the treatment of dry eye, blepharitis and other eye irritations.
