Dry Eyes? You Might Not Be Blinking In These Moments
Posted on: 24 May 2018
If you keep noticing that your eyes feel dry, you might attempt to moisten them with drops, or you may schedule a visit with your local eye doctor to ensure that nothing serious is going on. While regular checkups are always important, you should also know that in many cases, simply changing a small area of your behavior can fix dry eyes.
Your eyes can dry out when you don't blink enough. On average, people blink as many as 20 times a minute, and blinking is helpful for keeping your eyes moist. However, it's easy to avoid blinking for long stretches during certain behaviors. Try to assess whether you're blinking frequently during these activities and, if you're not, work to blink more.
Browsing The Internet
Although you're probably blinking regularly when you're typing an email or carefully reading something online, it's easy to get into a habit of reducing your blink rate when you're browsing the internet in somewhat of an absentminded manner. Lots of people do this from time to time — for example, you're bored or wondering what to do next, so you scroll through a social media site without really reading the content. Often, you'll have a distant stare while doing so and won't be blinking very often.
Watching TV
Similarly, you're probably blinking at the regular rate when you watch a show or sporting event on TV that is keeping your attention. However, it's easy to start to "zone out" as you get tired or whatever you're watching fails to be particularly engaging to you. Perhaps you've even caught yourself staring vacantly in the direction of the TV but not really focusing on what's playing across the screen.
Driving
Driving a vehicle can be another time that it's easy to get into somewhat of a trance in which you don't blink with much regularity. This is unlikely during city driving where there's a lot going on around you, but might be more likely when you're on a long stretch of highway with little traffic and little in the way of scenery. Of course, the immediate concern of this behavior is that you may not be paying as much attention as you should, but you may also notice dry eyes. If you catch yourself in any of these habits, try shifting your focus and blinking more. In many cases, you'll experience some relief to your dry eyes.
For more information, contact a company like Moninger Eye Care.
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