Ever seen a rabbit wearing spectacle or reading glasses? No? That’s because they always eat their carrots! Jokes apart, just like carrots, there are many things which may help us to improve our eyesight and vision. Eyes open the world to you and let you witness the beauty, shades, hues and colours of the nature. It is, therefore, very important to not only protect your eyesight from unwanted issues, but also nurture it.

Two of the very prevalent enemies of improved eyesight are increased screen time and sleep deprivation. Screen time includes time spend accessing your smart phone, laptop, computer and television. For teens and adults, the recommended daily screen time is two hours or less. For children, it is one hour only. Due to work commitments of adults and children attending school from home due to lockdown; there is greater increase to the screen exposure than the already unacceptable daily screen time. This routine is likely to cause headaches, eye watering, blurred vision and eye redness.

Distance between our eyes and the screen should be at least 20 to 40 inches, while sitting in the right posture. Instead of reducing the distance, it is better to increase the font size of the text you are reading or working upon.

In case you are bound to have a longer, uninterrupted screen time, due to school/college assignments or a film or season that you may not avoid; even in that case always remember the ‘20-20-20 rule’. This rule suggests that after every 20 minutes of continuous screen time, we should give our eyes a rest of 20 seconds by looking at an object which is at least 20 feet away.

You may focus on something stationary outside your room window or at the farther end of the hall where you are sitting in. If this is not a possibility, you may even close your eyes for 20 seconds, giving your eye muscles the required rest and thus preventing possible eye strain, blurred vision and headache. It is also better to stretch your neck and arms simultaneously to rejuvenate other parts of your body as well. You can set a 20 minutes timer alarm on your gadget.

Continuous sleep of eight to 12 hours is highly beneficial for children and teens. A good sleep helps your body to remain healthy and revitalise your entire body system. During sleep, body nourishes the eye by continuing with the supply of natural tears. It is also a longer stretch of rest for the eyes; since eyes are not needed to focus and visualise different objects.

Wearing sunglasses or cap in sunlight and avoiding to look directly towards sun or very bright light also brighten your chances to have a healthy vision.

Well–balanced diet also plays a critical role. All vitamins and minerals are essential for a good eyesight, but vitamin-A (retinol) is the most important one as it may help us to see better especially in the dim light as compared to those with less vitamin A intake. We may include those eatables that not only have other vitamins but also ample amount of vitamin A to boost our vision. These include eggs, milk, fish, cheese, yoghurt, spinach, carrots, mango and apricots. Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, a pigmentary substance which is renowned for imparting healthy vision.

Both yoga and eye exercises are believed to relieve eye-strain, by helping you and your eye muscles to relax while improving your vision. Some people feel at ease by making circles with eyes, without moving head while focusing quite far.

Similarly, blinking helps in completing the tear-film over your eye. This reduces the eye dryness and grittiness, and keeps it fresh while also helping in clear vision. There are also focus change exercises that your doctor or ophthalmologist may recommend depending whether you are near-sighted, far-sighted or have any other ocular condition.

If you follow the above mentioned advices then you are likely to continue enjoying a clear, improved vision as always.

Published in Dawn, Young World, July 25th, 2020