How To Reduce Eye Fatigue From Reading

Any avid reader knows the stress that long amounts of reading time can put on your eyes. Usually, your eyes are ready to stop before you are. While getting eye fatigue after reading for a long time is common, you don’t have to suffer it.

There are many tips you can try that will reduce the amount of fatigue your eyes experience when reading or working on the computer.

20-20-20 Rule

Like with any kind of fatigue, giving your eyes a rest is essential. The 20-20-20 rule makes resting your eyes simple without too much disruption to your reading. The rule means that every 20 minutes, you should rest your eyes by focusing on something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.

Use Reading Glasses

It may seem like you don’t need them, but your eyes may be working harder than they are necessary to focus on what you’re reading. Even a slight strain on your eyes will take its toll after hours of reading. Try out a pair of reading glasses so that your eyes can focus on the text without any extra effort.

Use Eye Drops

The longer you read, the longer you’ll be keeping your eyes open and the drier they will get. Using some eyedrops will keep your eyes lubricated and prevent them from fatigue caused by drying out.

Remember to Blink

You probably don’t get told to remember to blink very often, but when it comes to eye fatigue blinking can help. It’s helpful for the same reason as using eyedrops, it keeps your eyes from drying out. But when you’re focusing on a book or on your computer, it can be easy to forget about blinking and let your eyes get drier than they should.

Keep the Room Well Lit

It can be tempting, especially in the evening, to let the lights dim while you enjoy a good book. While this may feel like a pleasant atmosphere, it isn’t for your eyes. The darker it is, the more strain is needed for your eyes to focus on text. Keep a lamp on near where you’re reading so your eyes don’t have to pick the words out of the dark.

Get Plenty of Sleep & Vitamins

Another cause of eye fatigue that is the same as any other kind of fatigue is poor nutrition and sleep schedule. If you aren’t eating and sleeping right, your body is working harder on keeping you awake and producing energy than it should be. This means that there is less energy available to keep your eyes focused, and they’ll feel tired more quickly.

Fite Eye Center | Professional Eye Care & Examinations

There is plenty that you can do to keep your eyes healthy in between visits to the eye doctor but going to the doctor is still important. Just like how eating healthy and exercising is helpful, you should still visit your primary care physician for an annual checkup just in case. At Fite Eye Center, we can perform examinations to check your vision as well as your eye health, and we can answer any questions about your eye health that you may have. We can give information and recommendations on ways to keep your eyes as healthy as possible for as long as possible, too.