Eye Strain

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EYE STRAIN

Your eyes worked overtime again last night. Spending hours with your eyes locked on a romance novel or other close work strains your eye-focusing muscles. "Any muscle held in one position too long will strain."

Wink, Blink and NOD

Close your eyes

Shutting your eyes for a few minutes-or even several seconds-will refocus them and ease the strain.

Blink a lot

Each blink soothes and moistens the eyes and eases tight eye muscles.

Wet'em

Eyes tend to get dry when they're strained and, vice versa, dryness can cause eyestrain.

Take a break

To give your eyes a chance to refocus, once or twice an hour, take a five-minute break from whatever you're doing-reading, doing needlework or staring at the computer screen.

Turn up the contrast on your computer

The words and numbers on your screen are formed by fuzzy beams of light that are much harder to read than print on a page. To minimize the strain on your eyes, set the monitor contrast knob on high.

Get out of the glare

If you can, position your computer screen so that window light does'nt bounse off and create glare.

Tone down your attire

Bright, white clothes well reflect off the screen and create glare that can tire your eyes.

You may need reading glasses

If you're age 40 or so and suddenly have trouble reading or seeing up close, it may be time for bifocals or reading glasses. If you have 20/20 distance vision, check out the reading glasses in your corner drugstore. Start with the lowest power and find the pair that fits. If you're nearsighted-that is, if you can't see well at a distance-see your optometrist.

Don sunglasses year-round

Whether you're swimming, skiing or just running errands, the sun's ultravoilet rays can make you squint, starining the facial muscles around your eyes. Buy yourself a good pair of sunglasses-ones specifically labeled as blocking out as much ultravoilet light as possible.