Burning, itching or so-called sand under the eyelids is a condition that strains eyesight complain about. Eye drops, popularly known as artificial tears, bring relief. How to choose them and apply?
Natural tear secretion depends on many factors - time of day, emotions, weather, air pollution, etc.Tearshave 3 layers consisting of lipids, water and mucin.
Lipids, or fats, are on the outside and protect the eyeball from drying out - the "escape" of water that forms the middle layer.
There is a layer of mucin substance closest to the eye, which keeps tears on the surface of the eyeball. The main task of tears is to moisturize, cleanse and protect the cornea and conjunctiva from bacteria.
We expect the same from artificial tears. Their main ingredients are semi-liquid gels based on methylcellulose or hyaluronic acid. Artificial tears are sold over the counter. These are the only eye preparations that can be used without restrictions.
Problem with your eyes? First see the doctor
Any eye drops can cause allergies. Therefore, it is better to talk to an ophthalmologist about the selection of even such a safe preparation as artificial tears.
The allergic reaction of the body is most often caused by a preservative.
If we react with an allergy to the eye drops used, it is worth writing down their name and not using them in the future. This is important because any subsequent allergic reaction will be stronger than the previous one. You may then experience severe swelling of the eyelids, tearing, photophobia, eye pain.
When such a severe allergic reaction occurs, it may be necessary not only to discontinue the harmful preparation - sometimes general desensitizing drugs are also required.
Eyes in front of the computer
- After every hour of working in front of the monitor, take at least 5-minute breaks so that your eyes can rest. Blink your eyelids quickly for a moment - you'll improve the lubrication of the eyeball, which dries up when you stare at the screen with your fixed eyes. Look somewhere in the distance, preferably at the greenery outside the window, squeeze your eyelids for a moment, look out the window again. Move your gaze from nearby objects to those located in the significant areadistances.
- Make sure that the air in the room where you work has the right humidity.
- When you feel your eyes are tired, cover them with your hands for a moment without touching your eyelids and look into the darkness.
- Apply "yoga for the eyes". Without moving your head, look up, down, then left and right, then to the top left corner of the monitor, then top right corner, bottom left corner, and bottom right.
- Finally, "draw" circles with your eyes - back and forth.
- Take a pen in each hand, straighten your arms in front of you and spread them about 40 cm wide. Slowly bring both hands close to your face as you look from pen to pen. Then straighten your arms again and bring only one to your eyes while looking at pen and pen.
How to apply drops like artificial tears
Artificial tears can be instilled several times a day, preferably into the conjunctival sac. People who do not like it can put drops on their closed eyelids.
A portion of the drug is then placed in the recess by the nose. After you open your eyes, the medication will flow into your eye.
If we apply drops ourselves, open the lower eyelid, drop the drops, then press the corner of the eye with a finger, right next to the nose (then the flow of tears is blocked), and the drops will stay on the eye longer instead of flowing into the nose, which is beneficial will affect their absorption.
Eye whitening firmly not
Fortunately, drops that were commonly used on tired eyes are becoming a thing of the past. This type of preparations was supposed to narrow blood vessels, i.e. eliminate redness of the eyeball.
It turned out, however, that frequent use of such drops is harmful. The rapid narrowing of the blood vessels prevented the vessels from letting the necessary amount of blood through, and the eyeball was increasingly poorly supplied with blood and nourished. The effect of the drops was difficult to heal eye diseases.
Currently, the problem of tired eyes (from a medical point of view) appears less and less. It was caused by technological progress, safe screens of monitors and televisions, common wearing of sunglasses.
If we sit in front of the screen for a long time or otherwise strain our eyesight, you should take care of hygiene at work, keep a proper distance from the screen, exercise your eyes during work, moisturize the air in the room, and if necessary, help your eyes with artificial tears.
monthly "Zdrowie"