Tips for Healthy Eyes

Small changes in your daily routine can help reduce strain on your eyes

We ask a lot of our eyes. Most of the time, they give us what we want: Clear vision to get us through our work, to help us enjoy our leisure time, to negotiate our way through life's routines and its surprises. If we expect our eyes to keep on giving, we really should be kinder to them. And we can be. Small changes in our daily routines can help reduce strain on our eyes — and keep them healthy for a lifetime.

Television viewing and your eyesight
Eye care experts generally agree: Watching television will not harm your eyes or vision if the TV room is lit properly and if you follow a few viewing tips. In fact, there is usually less strain involved in TV viewing than in doing close work such as sewing or reading. But TV watching for long stretches of time can leave your eyes fatigued.

What's the optimum room lighting for TV viewing?
A normally lit room, suitable for general activities, is best. Excessively bright lighting tends to reduce contrast on the screen and "wash out" the picture. No lights should be placed where glare or reflections will be seen in or near the television screen. Strongly colored lighting should not be used, and surroundings should be neutral in color.

Is it all right to watch television in a dark room?
No. When the room is totally dark, the contrast between the television screen and the surrounding area is too great for comfortable and efficient vision. When the room is softly illuminated, undesirable high contrast is kept to a minimum.

Is it better to adjust the television set to room lighting or room lighting to the set?
Adapt the set's brightness and contrast to room lighting — not room lighting to the set — after the room lights have been turned on.

Is it all right to wear sunglasses while watching television?
Generally, no. Sunglasses may shut out too much light for good vision. If worn when not needed, they tend to make it difficult for the viewer to adapt promptly to normal light. If you are bothered by brightness, consult with an eye care professional about the possible need for lenses more appropriate to TV viewing.

What about color television for viewers with color vision deficiencies?
Color deficiency (i.e., color blindness) is generally not a barrier to enjoying color television. However, viewers with color deficiencies may disagree with others as to the "proper" color adjustment. A color TV picture properly adjusted for most people may appear too green to a protanomalous (weak red) observer, or too red to a deuteranomalous (weak green) viewer. When the set is adjusted to "correct" its color, the resulting picture is usually unsatisfactorily tinted for other viewers. Viewers who are severely color deficient, the so-called "red blind" or "green blind," will see little or no difference in widely different color mixtures, and will not be bothered by most color adjustments.

Children sometimes sit close to the set. Does this hurt their eyes?
While close-up viewing is certainly not recommended, it is generally not harmful. It is best to watch television from a distance of at least five times the width of the picture. Picture details will appear sharper and better defined and the television lines and defects will be less apparent. If your child persists in watching television from a short distance, have his or her vision checked. Nearsighted (myopic) children are the most likely to sit close to the screen.

What does it mean if the eyes water or if there is other visual discomfort while watching television?
It could indicate a problem that needs professional attention. Some viewers, especially those over 50 years old, may find relief with special glasses for television viewing. Discomfort could also indicate that drainage of tears from the eyes (tears normally drain into the nose) is impaired. If in doubt, consult your eye care professional.

TV viewing tips

• Make sure your television set is properly installed and the antenna properly adjusted.
• Place the set to avoid glare and reflections from lamps, windows, and other bright sources.
• Adjust brightness and contrast controls to individual and/or viewer's taste and comfort.
• Have the set at approximately eye level. Avoid having to look up or down at the picture.
• Avoid staring at the screen. Briefly look away from the picture, around the room or out the window.
• Wear lenses prescribed for vision correction.
• View from a distance at least five times the width of the television screen.

In addition, you can adjust your workstation, as follows:

• Sit about 20 inches from the computer monitor, with the top of the screen at or below eye level.
• Use a monitor that tilts or swivels and has controls for contrast and brightness.
• Use an adjustable chair.
• Place working documents on a document holder so you don't have to keep looking back and forth.
• To eliminate reflections or glare, adjust your office lighting or use a hood or micromesh filter for the computer screen.

Needed to read: eight vision skills
Reading requires the integration of eight different vision skills. The typical school eye chart test checks only one. Quick eye examinations may cover only one or two. Since a comprehensive eye examination will cover the eight vision skills, it is a must for anyone who is having trouble reading.

The eight skills include:

• Visual acuity, or the ability to see objects clearly at a distance. Visual acuity is sometimes measured in a school vision screening. Normal visual acuity is referred to as 20/20 vision (or 6/6 vision in the metric system) — a measure of what can normally be seen at a distance of 20 feet, or 6 meters. If a problem is discovered in the screening, a thorough optometric examination should follow.
• Visual fixation, or the ability to aim the eyes accurately. One type of fixation, called direct fixation, has to do with the ability to focus on a stationary object or to read a line of print. The other type, called pursuit fixation, is the ability to follow a moving object with the eyes.
• Accommodation, or the ability to adjust the focus of the eyes as the distance between the individual and the object being observed changes. Children frequently use this skill in the classroom as they shift focus between books and blackboards.
• Binocular fusion, or the brain's ability to gather information received from each eye separately and form a single, unified image. Eyes must be precisely aligned physically or double vision may result. If it does, the brain often subconsciously suppresses or inhibits the vision in one eye to avoid confusion. That eye may then develop poorer visual acuity (amblyopia or lazy eye).
• Stereopsis, a function of proper binocular fusion enhancing the perception of depth, or the relative distances of objects from the observer.
• Convergence, or the ability to turn the two eyes toward each other to look at a close object. Any close work, such as desk work, requires this vision skill.
• Field of vision, or the area over which vision is possible. It is important to be aware of objects on the periphery (left and right sides and up and down) as well as in the center of the field of vision.
• Perception, the total process of receiving and recognizing visual stimuli. Form perception is the ability to organize and recognize visual images as specific shapes. A reader remembers the shapes of words, which are defined and recalled as reading skills are developed.

Treating reading-related vision problems
When a vision problem is diagnosed, the eye care professional will prescribe glasses or contact lenses, vision therapy, or both. Vision therapy involves an individualized program of training procedures designed to help develop or sharpen vision skills.

Treating reading problems
Because reading problems usually have multiple causes, treatment must often be multidisciplinary. Educators, psychologists, eye care professionals— including low-vision specialists—, and other professionals often must work together to meet each person's needs. The eye care professional's role is to help overcome any vision problems that interfere with the ability to read.