Eye Care: Harmful Factors Affecting the Eyes

Main causes, that impair eye-sight, can be summed up as follows:

EXPOSURE TO STRONG AND GLARING LIGHTS

Persons working in factories, blast furnaces, chemical units, mines, pesticides and insecticides, drug manufacturing units, glass factories, steel plants, using electrodes with bare eyes are some of the places where eye sight is liable to be impaired due to lack of proper protection and preventive measures. There is a high rate of eye diseases caused to such workers who work in the above mentioned industrial units.

When eyes are not protected by suitable goggles chances of eye-injuries are quite existent. The workers should use all protective devices and take protective and preventive measures so as to rule out even a remote chance of any injury to the eyes.

If, per chance and despite all the necessary safeguards, any mishap occurs, the patient must get treatment without any delay from a qualified doctor, as any negligence and delay is liable to lead to loss of vision.

WORKING AT A STRETCH WITHOUT ANY PAUSE

Artisans, writers, mechanics, laboratory workers, studying children, officers or men working in offices, embroiders, tailors, watch repairers, gold smiths, housewives etc., have to work at a stretch, due to compulsions and constraints imposed by the requirements of specific role. The position is still worse where one is required to put in a certain amount of output in a given time-frame. Such persons, in order to give an optimum output in the minimal time, work at a stretch and thus, forget to provide rest to their fatigued eyes. The situation becomes still worse when eyes are strained under dim light or strong light.

Whatever be the requirements of any job, do not forget to rest your eyes by light palm massage, sitting with closed eyes for 4-5 minutes, splashing water over eyes, having some deviation (say a light stroll, a tea-cup/cold drink, chatting etc.) from the rut. If eyes are soothed after every 1-2 hours, they will get renewed energy to give better performance, without affecting vision. Remember, timely rest is a great tonic for the eyes which no other method can afford to give,

OVERSTRAINING

This aspect is simply a fall-out symptom (resultant symptom) of working at a stretch. When eyes get tired due to overuse, one may feel soreness, ache, tension, fatigue, blurred vision, with (rare) occurrence of flow of water from the eyes, redness or itching etc., which are pointers to the fact that eyes have been unduly overworked, resulting in undue strain on the eyes. The best course is to seek some sort of deviation, preferably by sitting flying down with closed eyes, giving gentle palm massage and using eye-cups to provide soothing relief to the eyes.

If eyes are strained, beyond an endurable capacity, there could be headache, stiffness in the cervical portion, occasional humming in the ears and aching/pain in the eyes orbits and on and around eye brows. Whenever your eyes get tired, it is nature’s natural warning, demanding of you to suspend the work at hand, and take rest for some time, at least till the time when said symptoms disappear. Giving rest in between work will enable the eyes to put in better output.

WRONG POSTURE WHILE READING AND STUDYING

Study is a close and serious reading, whereas reading implies light reading (say reading a novel, story-book, magazine, journal or a newspaper or a periodical). As a rule, one must not read while lying in a bed, sofa, easy chair, in a reclined position, reading by having too elevated pillows or with bent backward neck. An ideal position is to sit straight in a chair, without bending your neck and keeping a book at a distance of about 1-2 feet away from your eyes. Persons with much weaker vision may adjust the distance according to the position of their eye-sight/spects/lenses. Do not bend forward.

Children often lie down on the floor, sofa and a bed, place some pillow (though not always) below their book/exercise book and then study/do their home work. Even some elderly people also adopt such a wrong posture which ought to be discarded by all, irrespective of age, sex and mode of reading or studying, this posture exerts undue strain on eyes, muscles of the neck, shoulders, spine (which ultimately gets curvatured and bent) and, above all, one cannot study or read in the said posture for a long time due to the causative factors enumerated above. Moreover, there is far lesser gap between the eyes and the study material. Here, precaution is the only suggestion.

LACK OF PROPER HYGIENE

Most of us forget to keep our eyes clean. If we start caring for proper upkeep of our eyes, we will rarely have eye disease. Whenever you have to move out, wash the eyes with tepid water (Not co}d or hot water). Similarly after coming back, wash the eyes in the same manner. If there is some feeling of irritation or any foreign body entry, use the eye-cups and blink each eye 6-8 times. Repeat the exercise 3-4 times. Never rub your eyes nor use an infected hanky or towel. White bathing splash tepid water 6-8 times as a matter of practice. If there is any irritation, itching or redness or feeling of any foreign body into the eyes, contact a doctor and be guided by his advice. Use sun-glasses of good quality while moving out in the sun or cold, as both heat and cold have damaging effect on the eyes—observe the suggestions enumerated earlier and hereinafter.

IGNORING EYE PROBLEMS

Whenever presence of somn infection if felt/noticed, at once get in touch with a doctor. A timely action, followed by proper treatment, will save your energy, time, money and also spare you the agony of serious eye problems. Remember the old adage that ‘a stitch in times saves nine’. In case of accident, injury, bleeding, formation of pus, itching, abnormal redness, etc., never delay seeking medical advice. Some of the common diseases can be easily self-managed, whereas the more serious ones are required to be attended to by a specialist. It is not wise to ignore any eye problem, even if minor. A delayed medical treatment is bound to make way for further serious complications.

WRONG AND INDISCREET USE OF ORAL/LOCAL MEDICINES

It is a fact that some people use eye-drops ‘to keep the eyes clean.’ By using a wrong medicine (local or oral) for any eye problem is far more damaging and harmful than not using any medicine. Some persons indiscreetly use medicines based on corticosteroids which often not only prove harmful but have also serious side effects. As a rule no drops/ointment should be inserted into the eyes unless medically advised. Some of the medicines react sharply and instantly and may even damage eye sight. Even excessive use of Vitamins may result in the specified time-frame. If a medicine has proved useful and effective in case of some patient, it must not be concluded that the same will equally cure other persons, ‘even if the symptoms synchronize’. Habitual use of any medicine must be given a goobye. Medicines meant for glaucoma, pus formation, swelling, abnormal redness (say ‘Bloodshot eyes’), diplopia, etc. must not be used without medical advice and guidance.

T.V. VIEWING

Most of us have seen young ones using spectacles even at the tender age, and (at least) 6-8 children out of 10 use spectacles which is an alarming sign. T.V. has, no doubt, various advantages but viewing T.V. for a long time, and that also without any reasonable and requisite rest to the tired eyes, is harmful. Children often remain glued to T.V. sets for hours together and forget to blink or rest the eyes. Emitted rays, have damaging effects on the eyes. Parents and elderly people remain busy in home, office or any other work, and do not monitor their wards. Following simple rules may be followed while watching T.V.

□ Sit at a distance of 6-8 feet from the T.V. screen.
□ Do not watch T.V. at a stretch, but not beyond 30-60 minutes in a go.
□ Give rest to your eyes and gently massage the eyes with soft palms.
□ If eyes get red or tired, immediately switch off the T.V.
□ Habitual users of contact lenses/spectacles should wear the same during the time of watching a programme.
□ Watch only your most favourite T.V. programmes and abjure the habit of viewing each and every programme.
□ Maintain an erectile posture. Do not bend your shoulders, back, neck while viewing any T.V. programme.
□ Never watch T.V. while lying down, in a reclined position nor watch while you are lying side ways.
□ Do not forget there is a ‘switch off button also which should be used quite frequently.
□ Never sit near the T.V. screen nor watch it from a close distance.

These general guidelines equally apply to all the T.V. viewers, irrespective of age, sex and physique.

USE OF ALCOHOL

Excessive use of alcohol is harmful for the eyes but moderate, limited and occasional use, may be resorted to. Spurious, cheap, country made and substandard liquor can cause even total blindness. Unscrupulous processors use harmful vehicles for processing liquors which damage liver, stomach, intestines, eyes, cause skin infections, raise blood pressure, cause nausea and vomiting etc. Hence avoid using any alcoholic beverage, even if of high quality. Excessive and regular consumption of liquor can also cause cirrhosis/cancer of liver, and also diabetes, heart ailments etc.

USE OF TOBACCO

Smoking, tobacco chewing, snuffing cause damage to eyesight. Moreover, tobacco smoke is an enemy of eye-sight. Tobacco chewing cause submucus fibrosis and cancer in the mouth, tongue, cheek, lips, contracts eye muscles, raises blood pressure, raises ocular tensions, weakens eye sight. Like alcohol, it is also a big monster in spoiling and weakening eye-sight, causing redness, intense itching, blurred vision in most of the smokers. A violent cough bout can cause even total damage of the eyes.

HABITUAL USE OF DRUGS

Drug addiction is almost in consonance with alcohol and tobacco addiction—once you use it as a fun or a kick or to forget your worries, or to have a ‘nice time’, ‘to enjoy a company,’ you become a victim to this addiction. It is easy to get to any type of addiction but extremely difficult to extricate from the cobweb. There is no body organ that is not damaged by drugs. It renders you economically destitute, a social and family recluse, a selfconfmed Robinson Crusoe. It shakes and shatters one’s body, mind and intellect. There is a sustained adverse effect on the eyes which look drooped, yellow, lusterless, impressionless, besotted, vacant and stared. By using drugs (and also alcohol and tobacco) you are a dismal loser.

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