Eye strain after Covid-19: Causes and effective ways to overcome it

Master, Doctor Pham Huy Vu Tung, Ophthalmologist – Department of Examination, Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, said that recently, many patients have come to the clinic with symptoms of fatigue, dry eyes, headaches, eye strain, difficulty concentrating, red eyes, weepitchy eyes, increased myopia… The cause is usually an increase in exposure time to green light emitted from electronic devices to study and work online continuously.

Eye problems can occur about 2-4 weeks after recovering from Covid-19 Photo: Ophthalmology – Department of Examination, Tam Anh General Hospital, HCMC

If the eyes are regularly exposed to blue light, it will accelerate the aging process of eye cells, and at the same time, blue light has the ability to penetrate deep into the fundus, causing damage to the retina, especially retinal cells. retina (retinal pigment epithelial cells – RPE). The decrease in RPE activity is the main cause of dangerous diseases in the retina, including screen vision syndrome and macular degeneration, a disease with a very high risk of blindness. When RPE weakens, the visual cells are susceptible to atrophy, death and detachment, affecting the function of the eye.

In addition to the blue light emitted from the screens of electronic devices, studies show that Covid also affects the patient’s vision. A 2021 Nasri meta-analysis found that in 7,300 Covid-19 patients, 11% of cases had ocular manifestations, such as conjunctivitis, dry eyes, red eyes, watery eyes, and itching. In which, 30% of patients with long-term sequelae of Covid-19 had symptoms of dry eyes, heaviness in eyes, and eye pain.

In order to protect eyes against harmful blue light and limit post-Covid-19 eye sequelae, after recovering from the disease, it is necessary to control vision by using drugs and products containing natural essences, taking care of symptoms in eye. At the same time, it is necessary to well control underlying diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, dyslipidemia, etc.

Should limit the use of electronic devices, perform exercises with the 20:20:20 rule. Specifically, every 20 minutes, eyes focused on the screen should relax at a distance of 20 feet (about 6m) for 20 seconds. At the same time, limit wearing contact lenses, do not use cosmetics for the eye area, spend a lot of time resting and relaxing for the eyes.

You should wear sunglasses when going out to protect your eyes from adverse environmental factors Photo: Shutterstock

In addition, in order to keep the eyes bright and healthy and avoid eye problems, people should have regular eye exams every 3-6 months, build a scientific diet that also contributes to eye care, especially Specially supplemented with essential vitamins and minerals for healthy eyes. Vitamins and minerals have the effect of enhancing eyesight, fighting against oxidation.

Recently, scientists have found Broccophane essence from nature helps increase Thioredoxin, helps protect and nourish the retina and lens from the inside, supports vision enhancement, reduces blur, eye fatigue. At the same time, improving the symptoms of screen vision syndrome (CVS) caused by harmful blue light; prevention and improvement of refractive errors (nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism).