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In self development May 15, 2023 By Women of Rubies

10 Tips for Computer Eye Strain Relief

Computer eye strain is a condition that affects between 50% and 90% of people who spend the majority of their time looking at computer screens. Office workers are often affected by it. Still, even children who need to access a computer or tablet for their school work are shown to be at risk of eye strain recently.

When looking at digital screens from an intermediate distance, the muscles that control the eye movement are always active and adjusting to the screen. As this activity stretches over a more extended period, with few or no breaks, the eyes can become dry or tired.

Although it causes discomfort, eye strain is not a permanent condition that threatens your eye health. This article will explain the symptoms you need to be aware of, followed by 10 tips to relieve computer eye strain.

Symptoms of Having an Eye Strain

There are a few determining symptoms that indicate computer eye strain. Although a variety of different factors can cause these symptoms, if you suffer from two or more of the following traits simultaneously and your job requires long hours in front of a screen, they are likely indicative of computer eye strain.

Dry Eyes

Most people blink a third less frequently when focusing on a screen over a longer time. Due to this, the tear film on the eyes can evaporate, leaving the ocular surface dry and feeling gritty.

Headaches

Tension headaches, also described as band headaches, can be caused by concentrating on a computer while sitting in the same position for hours. This type of headache usually starts from the back of the head or upper neck and moves upwards to wrap around the forehead and temples where the pain intensifies. Those who regularly experience migraines need to be aware that tension and frontal headaches can develop into a migraine, so try to take precautionary measures.

Eye Fatigue

An intense focus on vision while reading or driving can cause the eyes to tire and feel fatigued. The results can worsen when the focus is set on a bright light source, such as a screen. These effects get exacerbated when the rest of the environment is dimly lit or cast in dark light, causing increased light sensitivity.

Eye fatigue can lead to blurred vision in either one or both eyes. The blurriness usually comes in waves, increasing towards the end of the day.

10 Tips for Computer Eye Strain Relief

If you have a refractive problem (e.g., short or long-sightedness or astigmatism) and have been prescribed to wear corrective glasses or contact lenses while working, it is essential to follow your optician’s advice and get regular eye exams. It ensures that your prescription is up to date and doesn’t cause any unnecessary, additional issues.

Having eye exams will also make sure that no underlying eye conditions go unnoticed, particularly when symptoms may be masked as traits of computer eye strain.

The next 10 tips are actions that you can take to relieve computer eye strain.

1. Hydrate

Using over the counter lubricating eye drops can help relieve dry eyes. But by making simple adjustments to keep your body and environment healthy and hydrated, you can lessen the chances of your eyes becoming gritty and sore.

2. Drink Water

Dehydration affects your whole body, including the eyes, and drinking a sufficient amount of water every day to keep your body and your eyes hydrated can let you avoid dry eyes.

On average, a person should drink eight glasses of water a day. However, healthy water intake always relies on your size and weight and whether you exercise every day. You can ask your physician about the recommended water intake for you to keep your body hydrated and eyes healthy.

3. Avoid Dry Air

In addition to hydrating your body, it matters to pay attention to the air quality in your work environment.
Many offices use air conditioners, fans, and ventilators that can move dust around the air. It can disrupt the tear film leading to dryness and irritation.

Try moving the fans so that they are not directed at your face.

Where possible, make sure that your surrounding is free from dust. The moisture in the air can increase by using desk humidifiers.

4. Take Breaks

Scheduling time away from the computer screen does not only give your eyes but also your mind a chance to relax and unwind.

Studies show that those who work with computers experience less eye strain and discomfort when they take micro-breaks throughout the day. Getting up from the desk to move around and stretch your limbs for a few minutes can reduce back and neck pains that may occur after sitting at your desk for hours as well.

5. Blink

Every time we blink, we cover our eyes in a layer of tear-film, keeping them moisturized and feeling comfortable. Research reveals that when staring at a computer screen or reading for a prolonged period, people blink up to two thirds less frequently than usual, often only closing the lids partially instead of covering the eyes completely. It causes the tear film to evaporate and eyes to feel dry and uncomfortable.

If you become aware that you blink less, ideally, you can try to make a habit of blinking more often. However, as this adjustment isn’t always possible to achieve, you can try setting a reminder every 20 minutes, using this time to blink slowly or close your eyes completely. Do it for approximately ten times in a row and focus on a spot far away from your desk to relax your eye muscles.

6. Eat Snacks for Eye Health

Aside from a healthy lunch, you can make time for snack breaks, eating fruits and nuts high in vitamins A, C, and E to support the complexity of cells in your retina. Omega-3 fatty acids can be found in walnuts and almonds and used in practice to help combat dry eyes. Of course, the intake of the proper vitamins could also be achieved through supplements.

7. Sleeping Schedule

During sleep, your eyes are refreshed with nutrients and tears, making a regulated sleeping schedule necessary for healthy and happy eyes. Sleep deprivation, however, can cause the blood vessels in our eyes to dilate, leading to irritation and eye fatigue during the day.

A set work schedule and the regulated sleeping cycle can help you to reset your eyes at the end of the day and ensure that you get appropriate rest overnight. To relax in the evening, try to avoid looking at screens, including TVs and smartphones, as the blue light from digital screens has been linked to promoting brain activity. Instead, try building a nighttime routine that includes tasks like cooking or tidying.

8. The Right Setup

Digital eye strain caused by computers can be induced by several factors, such as small images and fonts and flickering lights. You can try simple adjustments like increasing the pixel and font size on your computer or upgrading your desktop to a larger flat-panel LCD screen, ideally with a diagonal size of 19 inches.

9. Screen Position

The screen position and angle can alter your eyes’ focus when you look. As a result, it can increase eye strain if you place the monitor at an incorrect angle.

For an ideal work setup, try positioning your screen at about an arm’s length away from your face. That’s at least 20 inches apart but no further than 40 inches. If you can adjust its height, it should be centered 4 or 5 inches below eye level, so you don’t have to tilt your head too far up or down. The latter can also increase eye and neck strains.

10. Appropriate Lighting

It’s not only the lighting of your screen but also your work environment that can impact your eye health.

One factor is background light and the glare on your screen, considering reflections may make you squint, thus leading to tired eyes and frontal headaches. To avoid that, the screen should be facing away from windows or natural light sources. If this isn’t possible in your workplace, you can try using blinds or curtains to block direct light.

Additionally, the color temperature of most screens is set to a blue light, which has often been associated with eye strain. Blue light uses shorter wavelengths than red or orange light, which means it emits higher energy and causes the muscles of your eyes to strain. You can change these settings with most computers and smartphones by switching to night mode. Alternatively, you can opt for blue-light-blocking lenses on your glasses to relieve eye strain.

Bottom Line

Computer eye strain can be uncomfortable and annoying. Still, luckily, you can get relief by following the simple tips above without needing to buy expensive equipment or take complex supplement regimes.

Should you feel like your eye strain persists even after trying everything, it might be time to set an appointment with your optometrist. They will be able to examine your eyes and check for underlying issues that prescription updating or eye drops may resolve.

In Health August 27, 2021 By Women of Rubies

10 Simple Quick Tips for Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle

Our bodies are delicate! Too few calories and too many workouts will literally spike cortisol and prevent you from losing weight. Too many calories and too few workouts and well, we’ve all been there.

So what am I getting at?

My point is that there are several secrets that these seemingly effortless fit people incorporate, knowingly or not, that greatly contribute to their health and wellness. The good news is, you can incorporate those things too!

1. Make It Fit Your Current Lifestyle!

If you find healthy food to fit into your lifestyle, you’re already a step ahead of the rest. The key to getting fit effortlessly is to make it fit your lifestyle in a way you LOVE!! If you enjoy it and it’s easy, you’ll find yourself reaching your goals without even realizing it.

2. Remove Sugar from Your Diet

Sugar is more addictive than cocaine. While most foods you can absolutely enjoy in moderation, a little sugar with sugar addiction can trigger poor habits. If you’ve found that it’s impossible to slowly cut out sugar and it’s constantly causing you to rebound, cutting it out entirely might be the way to go!
I know this might not seem effortless, and it’s not. But once it’s taken care of, life becomes a whole lot more simple.

3. Incorporate HIIT

You’ve probably already heard of HIIT by now. It stands for high-intensity interval training and is the key to short and powerful workouts. It boosts something called Excessive Post Oxygen Consumption (EPOC), which basically keeps you burning calories throughout the whole day!
These workouts are insanely powerful at getting results and hardly take any time. The key is when you are in a “working zone”, you’ve got to work it hard!

4. Low Stress

Some people think that the reason stress is detrimental is because it triggers overeating. But that’s only a small picture of the truth. There is so much more to fitness than “calorie in vs calorie out” like many would like to believe.
The truth is that the hormones which control our body metabolism play an important role and it can be extremely difficult to stay in shape with high cortisol. So, cut down your stress to the barest minimum. “Work smarter, not harder” applies just as much to fitness as to any other area of life.

5. Keep Your Workout Clothes by Your Bed

The best way to get your mind prepped is by setting up your workout clothes right by your bed for the morning.
It’s far easier to resist the urge to hit snooze when all of yesterday’s intentions are literally staring you in the face. Another trick is to keep an inspiring photo by your bed for a quick glint of morning inspiration.

6. Do Not Starve!

Your cortisol levels (the stress hormone) will increase whenever your body is stressed. That means if you are overworking and undereating, your body will stop losing weight. Which is clearly counter-productive!
One of the most important things that people forget to do is fuel themselves for workouts. It’s ideal to eat some simple carbs before a workout, like a piece of fruit, to give you a rush of carbs that you can instantly burn into energy. After that, you’ll want to follow up with at least 30 grams of protein and 30 grams of carbs to replenish.

7. Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting has nothing to do with starving yourself! It simply has to do with eating within a certain time frame.

8. Eat off of a Small Blue Plate

This is scientifically proven. First off, our minds can find it hard to resist food sitting in front of us. In other words, if we have a large plate full of food, we’re more likely to eat it all until it’s done.
But what does the “Blue” have to do with anything?
The color blue is actually scientifically proven to be an appetite suppressant. Essentially, eating off of a blue plate will help reduce your cravings and make you feel satisfied much sooner!

9. What Are You REALLY Craving?

Sometimes, a craving might be your body telling you something! Our bodies are brilliant, and our cravings can often just be a sign that we are missing something important.
Often, people who crave chocolate are just low in magnesium. A constant need for red meat might mean low iron. Sugar cravings could very likely just be a blood-sugar response signaling a need for more protein and healthy fats in your diet.
If you have specific cravings, then you might benefit from taking a look at the root cause of them. Don’t ignore it when your body is trying to get your attention, but don’t give in to its first reaction either.

Discover what your body truly needs, and fix the problem, not the symptom.

10. Drink a TON of Water!

This is probably one of the most important keys to having a healthy life. If you drink a lot of water, you will see amazing results! Add some tea bags or fruit to flavor it, add some lemon, or just drink it plain!
The best trick is to ALWAYS have a water bottle with you and ALWAYS be sipping. You can opt for a water bottle with a straw, this way, it makes it even more enjoyable.

Final thoughts

There you have it. 10 simple tips you can deploy to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Which one are you familiar with? Which one are you practicing? Which of them would you try out? Do share with us in the comment box.

In lifestyle March 8, 2017 By Esther Ijewere

5 FACTS ABOUT THE VAGINA THAT YOU MAY NOT KNOW

Most women feel that they know their body and how it works. There are some facts however that may be lost on most about the vagina.

1. The vagina has a pH level. A healthy pH level is between 3.5 and 4.5. There are many outside factors that can change the pH level. When outside factors such as blood, semen, lubricant, or bacterial vaginosis are introduced, the pH level drops, making it become more acidic. The pH drops naturally when ovulation is happening so that a few “little swimmers” will be able to reach the egg for fertilization.

2. The vagina relies on good bacteria to keep things in check. The bacteria Lactoballicus is a good bacteria that is found in foods such as yogurt with live cultures. This bacteria will help to fight off infection and keep things running smoothly.

3. The vagina is made up of muscle. These muscles must be strong to withstand intercourse and childbirth. After surgeries such a hysterectomy, age, and childbirth, the muscles are not as strong as they used to be. Kegel exercises can help strengthen the muscle again. This exercise is done by clenching the muscles as if you were trying to stop a flow of urine. The best part is that you can do these exercises any time of the day.

4. There is a production of mucus that some confuse with an infection. Right around ovulation, the mucus becomes thicker to accommodate sperm. It can have the appearance of some type of infection, and if you are not sure, see a doctor.

5. It comes in all shapes and sizes. The plastic surgery business is booming, and some people will have almost anything tucked if they think it doesn’t look right, including the vagina or other parts around it.

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In self development March 6, 2017 By Editor

JAY HILL : WHAT NOT TO DO ANYMORE WHEN YOU TURN 24

Congratulations on making it to 24! You’re still young, but you’re starting to move into fully-mature adulthood. So how exactly should you change you life for the better? Start by following this guide that outlines 10 things you should stop doing right now!

Stop buying cheap clothes.

As a teenager and young adult, it’s fine to buy clothes and only wear them a few times, changing them as fashion dictates. However, now you’re older and probably settling into your first serious job, it’s time to start taking style more seriously. Invest in a few key pieces rather than buying a new wardrobe every few weeks.

Stop dating unsuitable ones.

It can be hard to find someone worthy of your time and attention, but by the time you reach your mid-twenties, you should have a better idea about what you need in a partner. Don’t waste your time on experimenting with people who you know, deep down, are not right for you. Strike a balance between being realistic and being too willing to give people a chance.

Stop caring what other people think.

It’s human nature to worry about what other people think of us, and no-one likes to feel as though they are being judged or criticized. However, being overly concerned with others’ opinions can cause you to lose sleep and even sacrifice your cherished dreams and ambitions in favour of living someone else’s idea of a great life. Trust your own judgement first and foremost.

Stop blaming your parents.

Sure, no-one’s parents are perfect and yours probably made their fair share of mistakes. However, it’s too easy to fall into the trap of blaming your parents or your upbringing for any current issues you may have. This isn’t productive, and will sour familial relationships.

Stop holding onto old hopes and dreams.

Are you guilty of holding onto aspirations that you really would be best off releasing? It may be time to trade in your old goals and ambitions for newer, more realistic aims. This doesn’t mean you have to give up on your vision of an ideal life, just that you need to keep your aspirations realistic.

Stop living in denial about your finances.

Those years when you could get away with being oblivious to the intricacies of your financial situation are over. It’s time to get responsible and set up a decent savings account, together with a pension plan if you haven’t got one already.

Stop being too nice.

This is an extension of Point 3, above, but deserves its own point. Stop people-pleasing. By your age, you should have a good idea of what you are capable of, and where your limits are. Learning how to say ‘no’ is an important step on the road to maturity.

Stop wasting so much time on the internet.

This is a tough one. These days, it seems as though everyone is addicted to the internet. We use it to find information, keep in touch with friends…and most of the time just browse social media unconsciously…wasting plenty of time. Learn to set time limits for yourself. You could even try one completely internet-free day per week.

Stop taking your health and fitness for granted.

Most of us can subject our bodies to late nights, too much alcohol and excessive junk food in college without feeling the after-effects. Unfortunately, as you move into your mid-twenties and then into your thirties, your body isn’t quite up to the task any more. Time to start eating more healthily and limiting those wild late nights!

Stop being messy.

How many hours have you lost looking for your wallet, cell or keys? Make this the year you finally start getting your possessions in order. Nothing makes you feel more mature than knowing exactly where your stuff is.

Source: Lifehack.org