A report investigating the screen habits of adults in the UK asked them how long they spent looking at computers, tablets and smartphones. The report showed the average person picks up their smartphone up to 20 times a day, spend 7-8 hours a day on a computer, two hours watching TV, plus another two hours on a tablet, which all tots up to around 12 hours of ‘on-screen’ time every day. As many as 47% of those polled said the first thing they do when they wake up is jump on their phone, while 20% said they even look at their phone while eating. The new UK research, which was commissioned by The Eye Doctor, a medical device to treat dry eyes, found that people would rather give up guilty pleasures like chocolate, sex, fast food, and alcohol rather than part with their smartphones. Ophthalmologist Dr Colin Parsole says, “As well as affecting every area of our lives from mental health to family life, our survey shows that screen-time is also having a definite impact on our eye health.”
Over 40% of those polled admitted to reoccurring dry, tired eyes. Parsloe adds, “We need to blink to refresh our tears once every 10 seconds. When you read a computer screen, your blink rate reduces — some people may only blink after two minutes! Just as we care for our skin and teeth daily, we need to introduce a regular health care routine for our eye sight. The simplest way to do this is every 20 minutes, focus your eyes 20 feet away from the screen for 20 seconds to relax the eye and encourage blinking. Build in daily, gentle eyelid massage to encourage healthy oil production by the meibomian glands, and eating a diet rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids from oily fish also benefit oil consistency. Use a hot compress therapy such as The Eye Doctor, a microwaveable and reusable hot eye compress to provide relief from irritated, dry and sore eyes.” The Eye Doctor RRP 19.95 from Boots or www.the-body-doctor.com
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