In previous posts we have taken a broad look at eye strain, questioning what is eye strain and what its symptoms are. Being aware of and knowing about eye strain is very helpful, especially if you think you may be suffering from it, but it's all but meaningless if you do not know how to prevent it from developing or how to rid yourself of it. Fortunately, that is exactly what we are going to tell you about now.
'Prevention is better than cure', as the saying goes, so lets start off by covering what steps you can take to prevent eye strain in the first place. Sadly there is no one thing you can do, or not do, to completely avoid wearing your eyes out, and the only way you will know that what you're doing is effective is that your eyes will not hurt.
It is difficult to keep doing something that could well be inconvenient without some kind of rewarding sensation, but so long as you remind yourself to adhere to the following, you ought to be able to avoid experiencing any negative sensations; which is easily the next best thing.
It doesn't matter if it happens due to being ignorant, obstinate or simply unlucky, if your eyes are strained they're strained; you can worry about prevention after you have treated it. Having eye strain can be very stressful due to how frustrating the symptoms are, so minimising other stress factors – which often easily crop up when you or someone else puts your life under a microscope to see all your eye sight-orientated missteps – will help you to remain calm and regain your health more quickly.
If you are in the earlier stages of eye strain (soreness, redness, ocular irritability, visible veins) then the best thing you can do is avoid screens entirely. At this point the symptoms ought to clear up quite rapidly, so a weekend of no screen use, including Friday evening, should be enough time for your eyes to return to normal.
If able to develop past this point you'll likely experience migraines, blurred vision, in addition to a worsening of the symptoms mentioned above. It is very possible that the damage you have sustained by this stage will have lingering effects, which is why once you have passed this point we would recommend that you visit a professional who can properly assess the damage and its causes, and then follow up with a tailored medical response.
Best case scenario you'll need glasses, but no matter what happens it's important to remember that eye stain in itself is a symptom of an underlying lifestyle problem, and if your eyes are being adversely affected it is likely that other parts of the body are too. For example, a common problem that often accompanies eye strain is bad posture and back ache, which develops slowly over the hours spent hunched at a desk, peering longingly at the back-lit screen.
The point is you'll need to make a change regardless of how your eye strain is treated, that is if you want to avoid straining your eyes again or developing another kind of repetitive strain injury. If you want to find more information on repetitive strain injuries take a look at our Ultimate Guide To Repetitive Strain Injuries, or take a look across our vast range of ergonomic Monitor Stands, Office Furniture and Workstation Products to see how each can be used to ward away injury and improve your physical well-being.