HEALTH BEAT 7-1-2002

Meetings & Conventions: Short Cuts July 2002 Current Issue
July 2002
Short Cuts:
HEALTH BEAT

Easy on the Eyes

Long days spent hunched over computers or combing the fine print of hotel contracts can make for tired eyes. Take some preventive measures to ease eyestrain, advises Dr. Gary S. Schwartz, an ophthalmologist in St. Paul, Minn. “When focusing on close reading or computer work, you don’t blink as much, and tears are not properly distributed over the eye surface,” Schwartz says. “Don’t wait until your eyes are dry to use eye drops; that’s like waiting for a car to run out of oil before you put more in. Use nonmedicated commercial drops on a regular basis to keep your eyes lubricated.”

If you wear glasses, “it’s important to have a prescription that’s correct for your working distance, such as in front of a computer screen,” adds Dr. David Edelstein, an ophthalmologist with offices in Brooklyn and Port Washington, N.Y. “Over-the-counter reading glasses are fine if you have equal vision in both eyes and don’t have significant astigmatism.”

The National Eye Institute of the U.S. National Institutes of Health runs a helpful site for sore eyes; go to www.nei.nih.gov.

• ALLEN J. SHEINMAN