What Your Doctor Doesn’t Tell You About Protecting Your Eyes from Screen Damage

Introduction to Vision Performance Training 0:00

Do this one simple vision exercise every day. It will not take you long and I promise if you're consistent with this, you will see a difference. Hi, I'm Dr. Bryce Applebaum and i'm a functional eye doctor and my passion, my specialty is optimizing the eye brain connection with a revolutionary form of treatment

Blink Awareness and Hydration 0:20

called vision performance training. Happen number one, blink awareness and hydration. Do you know that the average person blinks about 15 times a minute? And when we go to screens and start engaging with digital devices, that drops to like three to five times per minute, which literally means that we are blinking 60% less when were using screens. So let's all start a simple tip today. Every time you drink a sip of water, and hopefully you've got lots of hydration and drinks by your desk when you're on screens, blink fully five times.

So I want you to sit there and forcefully blink. One, two, three, four, five. When we blink, we allow the glands in our lower lids and our upper lidos that helps to create the tear film. We let them actually push out fresh, more, better quality tears. And when fresh clear better tears are on the front surface, We have a clean windshield to see through. So every time you are drinking, make sure you're blinking five times. Hydration and minerals and electrolytes really help support our tear film and help reduce dry eye and a lot of that gritty,

The 20-20-20 Rule for Screen Breaks 1:24

irritated, annoying sensation that we often get, especially when we're locked in with screens for too long. Habit number two, the 20-20- 20 rule. So what that means is at least every 20 minutes, take a break for at 20 seconds and look at something at atleast 20 feet away. Throw your focus, throw your eye coordination out into the distance to relax the eyes. Relax the eye muscles, inside and outside muscles of the that are responsible for keeping things single and clear. When we are on screens for too long, our visual system gets locked up.

And that absolutely is what contributes to digital eye strain symptoms and dryness and headaches and eye straining and irritation. So an easy hack for all of us, set a reminder on your phone, use one of the many apps that are out there, but never go more than 20 minutes without taking

Eye Pushups Exercise 2:18

a break for at least 20 seconds. throwing your gaze, your focus out into the distance and relaxing at least 20 feet away. Habit number three, do this one simple vision exercise every day. It will not take you long and I promise if you're consistent with this, you will see a difference. Its called eye pushups. So what you can do is you're going to cover up one eye. You're gonna take your thumb, bring it as close to you as you, can until it gets a little blurry and then stop, try and make it clear.

Hold it for five seconds. Think about how you are looking hard, how your locking in your focusing system. Visualize your pupil getting really small because the focusing muscles behind our pupil. And then after five second you gonna look across the room, all as far away as can for 5 seconds Then back at your thumb for five seconds. Back at the distance for fives. So you're stimulating focus, relaxing focus. Stimulating focus relaxing, focus and building flexibility with that internal muscle, the accommodative muscle that helps make things clear and keep them clear.

You wanna do this the same amount of time with your right eye as you do with you left eye. And the more you this, you'll notice the closer you can hold your thumbs and the balance and equal these thumbs are from in front of you. So absolutely one eye at a time, absolutely same amount of time right eye as you do from the left eye. And if you're serious about protecting your vision from screen fatigue or not giving in to these worsening symptoms and challenges that happen as we age, Absolutely do this but also check out ScreenFit, our online vision training program.

It takes eye push-ups and does a whole lot more than those but helps pull your hand along the way. A proactive approach to vision health is so much more beneficial than a reactive approach.

Protecting Vision and Next Steps 4:00

Most people won't change their screen habits until their eyes start hurting, until they start noticing symptoms. Don't wait for the symptoms, start protecting your vision today. And if you found this useful, please share this with a friend who's always on their phone or who has digital devices glued to their face. Or visit MyVisionFirst.com to learn more about vision performance training and subscribe for more iBrain insights.