In the morning, as soon as we wake up, the first thing we do is open our eyes. And until we go back to bed and sleep, our eyes are continually in use. It is therefore no wonder that they get tired during the course of the day or when they are severely strained. Sometimes, it is hard if you have to concentrate or focus your gaze over a long period of time; your eyes are red or burning, and your eyelids close unintentionally during work, while doing homework or watching television. In particular, people who work a lot in front of a monitor are often afflicted with tired eyes.

Working at a monitor, reading or driving: these activities make our eyes tired

Long hours working in front of the computer particularly strain and tire our eyes. The fixed forward-looking gaze and the focussing on the monitor at a constant distance place great demands on the eyes. On top of that, working at a monitor dries out the tear film more quickly because involuntary blinking is a lot less frequent than normally.

The same is true for other concentrated activities: someone who directs their vision at the road for long periods while driving, browses through a book for a long time or in school looks at the blackboard, finds that their eyes tire more quickly. Plus, tired eyes are a normal sign of fatigue after a long day.

Quite often, other typical symptoms of exhausted and dry eyes occur: the eyes start to itch or to burn, are reddened or watery. It is not only unattractive but even more so unpleasant. People who are often or even constantly affected by these symptoms should treat their eyes to something nice more frequently.
 

Tired eyes? Eight tips to help combat them.

This is how to liven up tired eyes:

1.  Treat your eyes to more breaks when working at a monitor. As much as is possible, look out of the window into the distance. You can use telephone calls to briefly close your eyes.
2.  Lubricating eye drops help the tear film to lubricate the cornea. HYLO FRESH^® imparts moisture and freshness to tired eyes.
3. Go out in the fresh air. A long evening walk works wonders; while you are at work you can use your lunch break for a brief excursion outdoors.
4. Make sure you have sufficient lighting. If the environment is too dark, your eyes have to strain more and get tired more quickly. Therefore, your work station should be bright and the light should shine evenly over your work space.
5.  Train your tired eyes during work: sit upright and envisage large circles in front of you, which you follow with your eyes – not with your head.
6. Ensure your eyes get natural lubrication. Make sure that you consciously, regularly blink.
7. Reduced air humidity dries out your eyes and makes them tired. Make sure you have a good atmosphere in the room. Regular ventilation is particularly important in winter in the dry air from the heating.
8. Set up your monitor so that it is easy on the eye. That means that the uppermost reading line is more or less in-line with your eyes. Make sure the font size is large enough to be easy to read.

If you are very frequently affected by tired eyes and further eye complaints arise, it makes sense to consult an eye doctor.

¹http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/
Occup Environ Med. 2005 Jan;62(1):4-12.
Eye complaints in the office environment: precorneal tear film integrity influenced by eye blinking efficiency.
Wolkoff P1, Nøjgaard JK, Troiano P, Piccoli B.