Doctor My Eyes: How To Protect And Improve Your Vision 👁️

All the ingredients for eye health, and a recipe too

4 min read

ICYMI

• A trick to help you disengage from your phone

• A travel tip to keep Spring break a lil’ less gross

• Your eyes are the window to good sleep

iSTRAIN
Monday’s eclipse had many folks on the Google reading up on what it can do to the eyes, but fortunately despite a few notable exceptions, we’re not a nation of total dumdums and everyone wore their protective eyewear. But the same can’t necessarily be said for the daily toll we are taking on our eyes with screen use. Computer Vision Syndrome is a real thing: prolonged time on screens, phones and tablets leads to dryness, redness, and discomfort, with the added bonus of the screens’ blue light impacting our brains, sleep and social skills. And while we should endeavor to prevent it before it starts, we can also do a few things to address some of the damage we’ve already done- your blue light glasses are just the beginning.

Said another way- it’s not too late to turn around, bright eyes. Yep I did it.

ROSE TINT MY WORLD

We’ve touched on the benefits of red light therapy before, from taming inflammation and muscle soreness to improving skin elasticity and promoting hair growth.  But another hidden talent from the red light district is its ability to improve vision.  Red light promotes mitochondrial activity, which plays a significant role in the above benefits, and fun fact: the eyes have the highest concentration of mitochondria in the body.  

With as little as 30 to 90 seconds of exposure, twice a week, red light can help with:

• Diabetic Retinopathy

• Amblyopia AKA “Lazy Eye”

• Age related vision impairment.  (Bolded in case you don’t have your readers on)

But please do your homework before embarking on a red light plan; there are many variables to factor in, i.e. exposure time, time of day and specific hue and wavelength.

💡Idea: Even simply changing lamps to red bulbs or wearing red-tinted glasses in the evening can block the damaging digital blue light and can help combat migraines (stars- they’re just like us!) and signal the brain to start preparing for sleep. So your Nana was actually a wellness pioneer with her blue blockers.

HERE’S A TIP, MAKE THE CHANGE

In addition to gearing up with the right accessories (read ahead for my favorite blue and red light glasses), there’s an even easier way to mitigate eyestrain from the endless daily screen time we endure.   The 20-20-20 rule is as simple as it sounds:  for every 20 minutes of screen time, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds to rest your eyes.  Set a timer–it’s built right into your phone that you’ve been staring at for more than 20 minutes.  And while you’re at it, this is also a good time to get up and walk around- now we are multitasking! 

Be well, have fun, and please consider upgrading to a paid subscription for premium deals, extra joy bombs, and to support my work!

I WEAR MY SUNGLASSES AT NIGHT

About once a week, I get asked where I get my reading glasses, and I never hesitate to share my source because these guys are doing great stuff for way less money than you’d expect: