Think Blink! Eye Exercises to Prevent Dry Eyes

Did you know that the average American spends 10 hours per day looking at a screen? Unfortunately, the brightness of a computer, smartphone or tablet screen can result in reduced blink rates of 60-80%. Less blinking can lead to dry eye symptoms. If you have found yourself suffering from dry, irritated, or red eyes then you may be suffering from dry eye.

Don’t fret! There’s a simple set of eye exercises you can perform each day to combat the eye-parching effects of our digital devices.

Instructions for Dry Eye Blinking Exercises

Donald Korb, OD is credited in developing these blinking exercises.

• Place your fingers at the corners of your eyes and blink. Hint: you shouldn’t feel any movement under your fingers. If you do, you’re using your defense muscles rather than your blinking ones.
• Follow the blinking sequence. The squeeze step is very important for making complete contact between the upper and lower lids. Again, you should feel no movement under your fingers, except when squeezing.
• Blinking tends to be task-dependent. Besides computer, smartphone or tablet use, other pastimes that decrease blinking rate are reading, driving and video games.
• Work these exercises into your daily schedule. Hint: Think about something that you do often throughout the day, such as answering the phone, checking emails, or taking a sip of water, etc. Try to condition yourself to make a full blink and give a little squeeze every time you perform this task.

Do You Need Additional Dry Eye Treatment?

If you have incorporated the blinking exercises for dry eyes into your routine, but you’re still experiencing eye irritation, you may have dry eye syndrome. Take our dry eye self evaluation quiz to get in touch with a dry eye specialist at Virginia Eye Consultants. We offer a variety of dry eye treatments to alleviate the symptoms of chronic dry eye.

Contact Virginia Eye Consultants for Dry Eye Help

The ophthalmologists, optometrists, and dry eye specialists at Virginia Eye Consultants are dedicated to caring for eye health in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Hampton. If you have any additional questions or concerns or are ready to schedule further dry eye treatment, please don’t hesitate to contact us to set up a dry eye examination.