While virtual learning doesn’t necessarily result in any long-term vision damage, e-learning is creating vision problems for students, such as digital eye strain, which can be an irritating and sometimes debilitating experience.

How Does E-Learning Affect My Ocular Health?

Digital eye strain is exactly what it sounds like—tired, overworked eyes that have been staring at a screen for too long. E-learning has created more opportunities for students to experience the negative effects of eye strain.

The primary cause behind eye strain is that people simply don’t blink as often while using computers and other digital devices. This leaves your eyes dry and very irritated.

Additionally, when you focus on something for an extended period of time, your vision can start to blur and the muscles around your eyes will tire. This can lead to pretty severe headaches, which of course affects a person’s ability to complete homework and participate in virtual classes.

While it’s easy for adults and teenagers to recognize the symptoms of eye strain, it can be more difficult for children to voice their discomfort.

Here are some tell-tale signs to look for in children:

• Frequent eye rubbing
• Avoidance of online classes or close work
• Frequent blinking
• Build-up or crust on eyelids or lashes
• Complaining of blurry or double vision

If your child is spending lots of time on a computer for e-learning and is displaying any of these symptoms, they are likely experiencing the adverse effects of virtual learning.

How Can I Alleviate Eye Strain?

Thankfully, there are some quick tricks you can employ to ease eye strain.

Use the 20-20-20 rule.

The 20-20-20 rule is an easy way to ease the pain of eye strain on a daily basis. For every 20 minutes of screen time, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. This gives your eyes a break from staring at a screen up close.

If you have trouble remembering to do this every 20 minutes, set yourself (or your child) a timer.

Try to view laptops at arms’ length, or 18 to 24 inches away from your face.

Don’t use a computer in a dark room.

Try putting devices away between 30 and 60 minutes before bed. Studies have shown that blue light disrupts sleep patterns. It can be hard for teens or college students to follow this rule. So, if you can’t put screens away that far in advance, at least switch your devices to “night mode” in order to reduce the strain on your eyes.

Also, if possible, try to purchase hard-cover books. You can find used textbooks from many online sources including sellbackyourbook.com and thriftbooks.com. Hard-cover books can help students spend less time online reading their e-books.

Long-Term Eye Care

Thankfully, you can practice some of the tips discussed above in order to ease eye strain throughout the week.

However, these quick fixes are just one step in caring for your ocular health.

One of the best and most inexpensive ways to care for your vision long term is with vision insurance. Most insurance plans will completely cover glasses, contacts, and regular eye exams.

If your student is suffering from repeated symptoms of eye strain, you will probably need to schedule an eye examination to see whether your student requires any type of corrective eye wear.

Paying for corrective eye wear or vision exams out of pocket can become very expensive—especially if you have a large household.

Investing in vision insurance now will help ease the financial burden of eye care in the long run and will help you stay on top of your and your family’s ocular health.

Learn About Your Vision Insurance Options

If you are from the Kosciusko area and have questions about vision insurance, set up a time to meet with insurance agent, Michael Suhany. With his years of expertise, he can walk you through various insurance plans and answer any questions you may have about the process. Contact him today and set up an appointment.

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However, despite its importance, many people ignore their optical health believing that since their eyesight has been fine so far, that they don’t need to concern themselves with regular eye care.

Taking care of your vision should be a priority. Here are some reasons why your optical health is so important and how you can maintain consistent vision care.

Why Is Taking Care Of Your Optical Health So Important?

Even if you’ve had no previous issues with your vision, it’s recommended that people see an optometrist about once a year. Eye doctors are able to identify issues with your vision and can prescribe corrective eye wear to help ease eye strain and improve your overall vision.

People often mistakenly believe that an eye doctor’s sole purpose is to fix blurry vision and prescribe glasses. However, optometrists are capable of much more.

For example, your eye doctor can actually catch a variety of diseases just by examining your eyes. Routine eye exams have revealed high blood pressure, nerve problems, diabetes, high cholesterol, and even brain tumors in patients. Many people with vision or other health problems don’t even realize them without a doctor’s examination.

Keeping up with annual eye appointments will help put your mind at ease knowing that you’re doing everything in your power to maintain eye and whole-body health.

When Should You Start Caring For Your Eyes?

The sooner you start caring for your eyes, the better.

Many parents believe they should start vision exams for their children once their child can identify letters or speak. However, the American Optometric Association actually recommends getting your children’s eyes checked sometime between six months and a year old.

Optometrists are able to examine muscle movement and general function of the eye before your child is even able to identify letters or communicate what they can see.

As a parent, you can actually look for signs that your child might have vision issues. For example, severely poor handwriting or writing letters backwards can be indications that your child needs glasses.

Since it doesn’t hurt to start early, specialists recommend starting eye exams between six months and a year old. But definitely take your child for regular appointments once they reach kindergarten age.

After that, try to maintain an annual eye exam, unless you have an extensive family history of eye issues. If that’s the case, you and your children may need to see your optometrist more than once a year.

How Do Day-to-Day Activities Affect Our Eyes?

Our day-to-day activities actually cause quite a bit of strain on our eyes.

In particular, spending a lot of time on screens can begin to take its toll on your eyesight. Specifically, spending hours a day in front of a screen can result in dry eyes and severe eye strain.

Small children in particular should not experience much screen time during the day as it’s important for kids to develop hand-eye coordination away from screens.

In our current day and age though, it’s pretty much impossible to avoid screens altogether.

However, corrective eye wear or even blue light glasses can relieve some of the stress placed on your vision due to screen exposure. Again, it’s important to ask your optometrist about treatment options during your regular appointments.

Why Should I Get Vision Insurance?

Whether you wear corrective eye wear or not, caring for your vision is incredibly important for your long-term health.

One of the best and most inexpensive ways to care for your vision is with vision insurance. Vision insurance will actually save you money in the long run.

Many vision insurance plans cover or at least help cover glasses, contacts, and regular eye appointments. Paying for eye exams or corrective eye wear can be very expensive out of pocket, especially if you have multiple members in your household.

Vision insurance helps alleviate the financial burden of regular eye care and ensures you’re staying up to date with the needed amount of care.

But most importantly, vision insurance helps you stay on top of your vision health.

As already mentioned, your eyes are subject to a variety of diseases. No matter your age or the current health of your eyes, taking preemptive measures and keeping up with regular optometrist appointments helps protect your eyes and overall health in the long run.

Take care of your eyes and your eyes will take care of you. Consult a specialist today and find out if vision insurance is right for you and your family.

Ask An Expert About Vision Insurance Options

If you live in or near Kosciusko County and are considering investing in vision insurance, set up a time to meet with insurance agent, Michael Suhany. He can walk you through different plan options and answer any questions you may have about the process. Contact him today and set up an appointment!

The post Vision Insurance And Your Optical Health! appeared first on Michael Suhany Insurance.