During the May Day holiday, your eyes don’t have a break? What should you do if you have dry eyes, sore eyes, and eye fatigue?

Every short holiday is a peak period for dry eye syndrome. With endless TV dramas and variety shows, not only does the battery of the mobile phone run out, but the eyes also frequently send out warnings, such as redness, dryness, tearing, and photophobia... Be careful of dry eye syndrome!

What is dry eye?

Dry eye, also known as keratoconjunctivitis sicca, is a common eye disease. Due to insufficient tear secretion or excessive evaporation, the amount of tears, the quality of tears, and the natural fluidity of tears become abnormal, causing tear film instability and ocular surface damage, leading to eye discomfort symptoms and visual dysfunction.

Why is dry eye syndrome more common during holidays ?

1. Using electronic products for a long time

During the holidays, people use electronic products for a long time, which greatly reduces the number of blinks and causes insufficient tear film secretion. The tear film on the eyeball evaporates quickly, so the eyes may experience discomfort such as dry eyes and sore eyes, which may cause dry eye syndrome over time.

2. Poor quality diet

Not paying attention to healthy eating and overeating during the holidays can cause changes in the secretion components of the meibomian glands, resulting in the inability to form a qualified tear film, insufficient eye moisture, and easily inducing dry eyes.

3. Lack of sleep

Staying up all night can easily cause discomfort to the eyes due to overuse and excessive external stimulation. After staying up late for consecutive nights, it is not only easy to suffer from dry eyes, but also easy to increase intraocular pressure, leading to vitreous hemorrhage, and compressing and damaging the optic nerve.

How to prevent dry eyes?

1. Pay attention to your eye habits

Use your eyes for 45 minutes and take a 10-minute break, close your eyes and relax or look into the distance. Maintain a correct eye posture, do not look at your phone while walking or lying down. When using a computer, keep the distance at least 60cm and keep your eyes downward at about 30 degrees.

2. Do more blinking exercises

Perform 10 blinking exercises every day (close your eyes lightly for two seconds, close your eyes tightly for two seconds, open your eyes for two seconds, repeat the cycle, and train for one minute each time). Blinking can evenly distribute the tear film on the eye surface, moisturize the eyes, and promote the secretion of lipids from the meibomian glands. The lipid layer locks in moisture and moisturizes the skin, subconsciously increasing the frequency of blinking and facilitating the secretion of tears.

3. Maintain a comfortable eye environment

Try to avoid staying in a dry environment for a long time and use a humidifier properly. When your eyes are swollen and painful, you can use a wet towel to cool them down to relieve pain; when your eyes are sore, you can use hot compresses to improve local circulation and relieve fatigue.

4. Pay attention to eye sun protection when going out

Tianjin University Aier Eye Hospital reminds you that prolonged exposure of the eyes to ultraviolet rays when playing outdoors will accelerate the loss of tears. It is best to wear sunglasses or a sun hat when going out.