Eye care advice that ophthalmologists want you to know most

The winter vacation is halfway over, and both children and adults may find that their eyes are beginning to feel uncomfortable - after all, there are endless cartoons to watch, endless games to play, and endless mobile phone use... In order to remind and help everyone, especially students who have not yet started school, to protect their eyes, some important precautions are listed below. I hope that we don’t have to let our eyes continue to "work overtime" during the vacation.

Preventing Myopia for Primary and Secondary School Students

For primary and secondary school students, their studies are relatively easy during the winter vacation, but myopia prevention and control cannot be taken lightly, especially for those children who already have myopia. If they do not pay attention, the degree of myopia will not only not be effectively controlled, but will worsen. Next, let’s talk about the precautions in detail.

First, try to reduce the time spent using electronic products. During the holidays, children are more likely to be exposed to electronic products such as mobile phones, computers, and televisions. Long-term use of electronic products will not only cause or aggravate myopia, but also cause eye discomfort. Therefore, it is recommended that electronic products should not be used for more than 1 hour a day. When using them, the screen size and brightness should be moderate. At the same time, the "20-20-20" principle should be followed, that is, for every 20 minutes of watching the electronic screen, the child should look at the environment 20 feet (about 6 meters) away for at least 20 seconds.

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Secondly, good reading habits are essential at all times. Maintain a correct sitting posture when reading, keep a proper distance between your eyes and the book (about 33 cm); reduce the time of continuous close-up use of your eyes. Here you can also refer to the 20-20-20 principle - it is best to take a break after every 20 minutes and look 20 feet (about 6 meters) away for at least 20 seconds, and do not read continuously for more than 40 minutes. Make sure the reading environment is well lit and avoid too strong or too weak light; these good reading habits are the prerequisites for effectively preventing myopia.

It is also very important to increase the time spent outdoors. Studies have shown that spending two hours outdoors every day is an effective way to prevent myopia. Outdoor activities can promote the release of dopamine in the retina, which helps inhibit the growth of the eye axis, thereby preventing the occurrence and development of myopia. In addition, changes in natural light and switching between different distances require constant adjustment of the eye muscles, which also helps prevent and control myopia.

Since light intensity is a key factor, in order to ensure the effectiveness of outdoor activities, it is recommended to conduct them in a sunny environment, and try to choose the time period before 10 am or after 4 pm for outdoor activities, when the light intensity is more appropriate. During the holidays, children have relatively free time arrangements, and at least 2 hours of outdoor activities every day can not only exercise the body, but also help the health of the eyes. Of course, you also need to protect your eyes during outdoor activities, let's talk about it next.

Playing in the snow to prevent snow blindness

As mentioned above, outdoor activities are very beneficial for preventing myopia, but there are also some things to pay attention to. For example, for tourists from the south, going to the north to see the snow scenery and play ice and snow activities is a major choice for tourism. But before traveling, you need to understand a snow-related eye disease and take corresponding protective measures. This disease is called photoelectric conjunctivitis, commonly known as "snow blindness", which is caused by the eyes being exposed to strong ultraviolet rays, especially in snowy environments, and the damage to the cornea and conjunctival epithelium caused by ultraviolet reflection.

This disease usually occurs 6-8 hours after exposure to ultraviolet rays. Patients experience severe eye pain, tearing, difficulty opening the eyes, redness and swelling of the eyelids and conjunctiva, blurred vision, etc. Under natural conditions, the symptoms gradually improve after the cornea and conjunctival epithelium repair themselves.

Therefore, tourists who play in the snow should prepare protective glasses or masks before traveling. During snow activities, they must wear glasses or masks with UV protection to block ultraviolet rays and strong light reflected from the snow, thereby reducing the occurrence of "snow blindness".

Don’t spend too much time watching TV series

During the winter vacation, many children will start the "chasing drama" mode, that is, using mobile phones, computers and other electronic products for a long time day and night. Long-term use of electronic products should not only be careful to cause and aggravate myopia, but also be alert to the occurrence of dry eyes, visual fatigue and even glaucoma.

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Long-term use of electronic products will involuntarily reduce our blinking frequency. At the same time, the blue light stimulation of electronic products, changes in biological rhythms and reduced sleep time will cause and aggravate dry eyes. In addition, long-term near vision will also cause symptoms of visual fatigue, especially for middle-aged and elderly people over 45 years old, because the eyes' own adjustment ability decreases, which makes them more likely to experience symptoms of visual fatigue.

What's worse, some people in this group use their eyes for a long time in a dim environment, which causes the pupils to dilate, thereby blocking the narrow chamber angle and inducing the onset of acute angle-closure glaucoma. Therefore, the "chasing drama" mode during the holidays is not advisable. Controlling the use of electronic products and ensuring adequate sleep are very necessary for both "schoolers" and "office workers".

Eat healthy to protect your eyes

During the holidays, friends and family gather together and eat some greasy and irritating food. If you don't control it, and have some living habits such as staying up late and rubbing your eyes frequently, it may cause the occurrence of chalazion, commonly known as "chalazion".

Symptoms include redness, swelling, and pain in the eyelids. At the same time, don't be too drunk during the holidays. Drunkenness is not only harmful to the body, but also can lead to exposure keratitis in a few people due to prolonged incomplete eyelid closure. Therefore, maintaining a healthy and reasonable diet is also important for our eyes.

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Finally, don’t forget to have your children have their eyes checked regularly. During the winter vacation, most parents take their children to regular hospitals for vision checks. If you find that your child has symptoms such as looking at objects too close or squinting, you should actively seek medical attention to detect vision problems in a timely manner and take appropriate measures to “mend the fold before the sheep are lost.”

In short, during the winter vacation, both adults and children should strengthen their awareness of eye protection so that our eyes can have a healthy and relaxing holiday.

Planning and production

Author: Jia Changkai, deputy chief physician of Xiamen Eye Center affiliated to Xiamen University

Reviewer: Liu Gang, deputy chief physician of ophthalmology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Qingdao Branch