5 Ways To Prevent Computer Vision Syndrome Working From Home

As the number of individuals working from home continues to rise so does the amount of time working remotely at a computer screen.

The extra time spent on a computer, whether it be at a desktop, tablet, e-reader or cell phone, is creating more potential for eye related issues. This can lead to what is known as Computer Vision Syndrome or CVS. An improperly positioned device can bring on CVS, resulting in eye dryness, irritation, a loss of concentration and an overall negative impact on work performance.

This occurs for several reasons. First, significant muscular effort is required to sustain clear vision at close working distances. Over hours, the visual system simply experiences muscular fatigue. Secondly, sustained close work also commands tremendously focused attention and can result in perceptual tunneling that increases distractibility and reduces attention span.

Finally anyone working at a computer has impaired blink function. The blink produces moisture and is an essential component of how the eye takes care of itself. Regular blinking occurs about 15 times per minute. However, studies indicate blinking only occurs about 5 to 7 times per minute while using computers and other digital screen devices. Less moisture on the eye's surface can cause blurring of vision, watering, and burning of the eyes.

Here then are five ways to combat Computer Vision Syndrome and maintain optimal eye health.

1. Position the viewable area of the screen a little below the line of sight. Assuming good ergonomics at the desk and chair, the computer should be positioned for a slightly downward gaze.

The lightly downward gaze is easier on the eye than looking straight across or viewing upwards.

It helps bring the eyelid down and helps eliminate the chances of being affected by drafts, especially when an air conditioning unit is in the room. It helps protect against dryness. In addition, proper screen position promotes good posture with both feet flat on the floor.

2. Eliminate or reduce screen glare. Light toxicity or discomfort can result from too much glare. It can impact one's ability to perform their normal job function. A good test is to place a folder over your head as you look at your work terminal. If it becomes easier to read with the folder than the user may have problems with discomfort and disability glare.

Glare can be reduced by placing a screen on the computer terminal. Anti glare coating on eyewear can also help.

3. Minimize exposure to blue light. As computers become more modern and sophisticated, so does exposure to blue light. This type of light has immediate consequences including impact on long term macular health, the part of the eye that processes 20-20 vision. Also blue light can impair the sleep cycle. Filters and coatings can help reduce blue light exposure.

4. Allow for workstations to enable peripheral vision. Workstations should be built to permit ambient visual stimulation or eye activity going on in peripheral vision. Vision performs best when it is exposed to a full range of visual stimulation not just one type while blocked from seeing others.

5. Take breaks. To best prevent computer related eye stress, users should maintain mindfulness about blinking, position screens in the right spot, avoid multiple screens, and take breaks. Getting up, moving around, and perhaps mild stretching or rotations of the arms, wrists, neck, and back, will help alleviate a high degree of eye stress and ensure a more productive work experience.

Dr. Mark Kahrhoff is a founder and principal with Complete Eye Safety and Complete Vision Care in St. Louis, MO. Complete Eye Safety is a unique physician-owned eye safety company providing not only premium quality ANSI-approved safety eyewear to customers around the US and the world but also physician-led education on visual performance, eye safety, and eye safety programs. For information on compliant safety eyewear, the optician-on-demand program, corporate vision safety programs, safety goggles, and fashionable safety eyewear for industrial and occupational safety use visit https://completeeyesafety.com

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Dr._Mark_Kahrhoff/2836996

Read More

How I Got Rid Of My Migraine Headaches Without Supplements or Medications

Here is a short story of my migraine headaches, why I think I got them and what worked for me in eliminating these unbearably uncomfortable conditions after 7 years. I got them around age 25. They would start suddenly and put me to bed for 1 - 2 hours. Then they would dissolve and I'd begin to feel better again. I didn't get them too often: roughly once every 3 - 4 months. However, after 7 years of suffering from them, they seemed to be happening more frequently.

By now, I haven't had a headache for 10 months. I consider this to be a significant improvement.

Also, I'm not a doctor, so do take this advice at your own risk. But maybe someone reading this will find the ideas described in this article worth trying and perhaps even useful. I stumbled upon the solution quite accidentally, as I experimented with leaving out certain types of food from my diet and wanting to find out how it affected me.

I was looking to improve my skin conditions and digestion. For nearly 20 years I've suffered from minor rashes and skin eczema due to my inability to tolerate certain types of food. I've also had chronic diarrhea and therefore problems with absorbing the nutrients. Both of those ailments are something that my father has had as well, so I figured that it was something I'd never be able to change.

In addition I've been allergic since age 12. I've had hay fewer every spring once everything begins to bloom.

Trying to alleviate those symptoms on my own without the use of artificial human-made drugs or chemicals, I've always been a fan of natural remedies and self-help books. I've avoided taking any medications or supplements whenever possible. Instead, I've made changes to what I eat and have taken notes about my overall feeling or bodily reactions. To increase the chance of getting more reliable information, I've often eaten only 2 - 3 different foods for a fixed period of time. Over the years I've developed a better understanding and awareness of how specific foods affect my overall energy levels, digestion, as well as symptoms of food intolerance and allergy.

Due to my food intolerance symptoms I ended up eating lots of white bread, which would seem to give me least amount of skin rashes and eczema while providing the greatest sense of satiation. I knew that many allergic people felt better once they left out gluten-foods completely. But I enjoyed the sweet taste and crisp smell of fresh white bread so much, that it took nearly 10 years before I decided to try doing without it.

I enjoyed eating white bread on daily basis for years, as it seemed to be one of the few things that didn't cause too much skin issues. However, I didn't realize that I was slowly causing damage to my body in other ways. I had given up dairy products already in my teens, as these would give me the most symptoms and discomfort. Yet gluten-rich white bread remained my main dish along with buckwheat for a long period of time.

I decided to drop gluten completely a little less than a year ago. Already after 3 months later I began noticing significant positive changes to my skin, knee arthritis, digestion, hair loss. By the time 10 months have passed, the only two times that I've gotten milder symptoms of headaches were when I went to visit someone and chose to accept their offer of eating gluten-containing foods. Both of those times I developed milder headache within 24 hours of eating those foods. This made me even more aware of the effect that gluten has on my body.

Once in while, I still miss white bread. But once I remember the terrible headaches that I now no longer have, it is easier to look for satiation from alternative food sources. Instead I have substituted white bread with eating more cooked vegetables and fresh fruits. This does not give me headaches, while having even more healing effect on my skin, digestion and other minor bodily conditions that I've developed over the years and are most likely linked to my gluten-intolerance.

For the time being, one effective way to liberate myself from migraine headaches is to stay away from gluten.

NOTE: I have written a more in depth article on my blog, which shares more details about my migraine headaches and gluten intolerance.

The author of this text is a musician. If you are interested in hearing what his music sounds like, click here.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Joonas_Kreen/1192950

Read More

Treatment of Headaches With Chiropractic Care

In order for us to continue the routines of our everyday life, and to make decisions that are important to us, we need to be able to think calmly. Headaches interrupt our ability to do this. Fortunately, most people only get headaches once in a while. However, some of us have chronic headaches that disrupt our routines, and our sleeping patterns. Chiropracty may be able to help.

What kinds of headaches can be treated with chiropracty?

There are three types of headaches that are amenable to chiropractic care:

1. Tension-induced headaches: These headaches result from muscular stress in the head, neck, or shoulders, and are located in specific areas of the head.

2. Migraine headaches: Migraines are usually felt on one side of the head, and are accompanied with an increased sensitivity to sound and light, and by nausea.

3. Cervicogenic headaches: These headaches originate in the spinal area of the neck, and spread forward to the head or face on one side of the body.

Studies reveal the efficacy of chiropractic treatment of headaches

Research has shown that manipulation of the spinal cord - the primary form of treatment of chiropractic doctors - can be effective for treating the three types of headaches described above.

The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics (JMPT) published an article in 2011 that showed that spinal manipulation can ease cervicogenic headaches and migraines. And in 2014, JMPT published an article stating that chiropractic care interventions are helpful when treating chronic, acute neck pain.

Studies are continuing that show the effectiveness of chiropractic care in the treatment of chronic headaches.

How do chiropractors help treat headaches?

Chiropractic treatment methods can include:

Soft tissue therapy: targeted clinical massage of the area that is in pain.

Rehabilitation: expert delivery of painless passive and active care.

Manual therapy: procedures by which the hands directly contact the body for treatment.

Specialized modalities: acupuncture, electrical stimulation, ultrasound.

Co-management and Referral: collaboration of chiropractors with other doctors.

Lifestyle changes: advice on your nutritional and physical health

It is important for you to take chronic headaches very seriously. Consult a chiropractor if you have regular headaches, if you self-administer a pain-relieving drug for your headaches often, or if your headaches are worsening. Take prompt action if you experience a sudden and severe headache after a head injury, a fever, neck stiffness, numbness, weakness, or speech difficulty.

Your chiropractor will perform a thorough diagnosis to discover the source of your headaches. Once confirmed, specific chiropractic adjustments will be performed to the affected area in order to relieve the pain.

Visit the author's website, headaches17.info, for more info on headache types, causes, and cures. If you would like to read another article on this subject, see the author's article on Chiropracty and Headaches.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/David_Broadhead,_Ph.D./224683

Read More

7 Keys to Good Health by Good Breathing

A very common slogan among asthma sufferers is "When you can't breathe, nothing else matters", alluding to the desperateness of one who can't inhale the life-giving air. Is life-giving air the full story on breathing? This article takes common breathing advice and gives reasons for its efficacy. It goes further and provides essential elements in breathing technique for better health.

Breathing is perhaps one of the most centrally integrated autonomous behaviours that reach well beyond a simple filling of the lungs. Garcia AJ writes in 2011:

"Breathing emerges through complex network interactions involving neurons distributed throughout the nervous system. The respiratory rhythm generating network is composed of micro networks functioning within larger networks to generate distinct rhythms and patterns that characterize breathing."

The outworking of Garcia's study can best be observed when a person is affected by strong emotions like fear & anger.

Mainstream advice for breathing is to override the autonomous control and consciously inhale deeply through the nose and exhale through the mouth slowly with pursed lips.

Dr Carla Naumburg PhD of 'Ready, Set, Breathe' fame suggests breathing exercises bring mindfulness into daily life. By remembering to breathe, a space is created to restore calm and reduce blood pressure and stress hormones so creating opportunity of situation control.

Professor Konstantin Buteyko (Russia 1923-2003) is credited for a technique characterised by slow and reduced breathing combined with spaced pauses of no breathing allowing Carbon Dioxide to build up to bursting point.

Breathing is a relevant component of the practice of Yoga. Yoga breathing techniques typically accompany either different poses or some form of meditation. Thus it is difficult to separate and ascribe the result to the breathing, poses or the meditation.

Pandit JJ, in 2003 tested 3 breathing techniques for optimum Oxygen uptake, as follows:

1. Three (3) minutes of tidal breathing

2. Four (4) deep breaths taken within 30 seconds

3. Eight (8) deep breaths taken within 60 seconds

The Oxygen uptake was the same for Items 1. & 3 and a higher efficacy than for Item 2. His work illustrates that breathing technique is important.

Enter Nitric Oxide (NO), a colourless gas with a half-life of merely seconds. Nitric Oxide (NO) was named "molecule of the year" in 1994 by Science Magazine.

In 1998 the Karolinska Institute awarded the Nobel prize to US pharmacologists Robert F. Furchgott, PhD, Ferid Murad, MD, PhD, and Louis J. Ignarro, PhD for their discoveries of the role of Nitric Oxide (NO) as being a signalling molecule in the cardiovascular system.

NO relaxes the smooth muscle in arteries providing a larger flow area for blood, thus reducing blood pressure and bring more nutrients to where they are needed. The importance of NO in the human bodily functions cannot be overstated. Even though 1000's of research papers have been written, World research goes on. NO is implicated in heart health, lower blood pressure, better quality of sleep and even erectile dysfunction.

NO is produced in the sinuses, the biggest being the maxillary sinuses either side of the nose. They are closed chambers except for a small soft-tissue opening called the ossium which is open the olfactory airways.

There is no right or wrong way to breathe - the autonomous brain function sees to it that you get adequate oxygen into your system. However, there are ways to breathe to get maximum NO into your system. Here are 7 pointers to help get this amazing gas into your bloodstream.

1. BREATHE IN FAST THROUGH YOUR NOSE.

Nose hair and constricted nose ducting ensure there is a negative pressure in the airways. This partial vacuum causes the sinuses to deliver a small amount of NO-laden air into your inhaled breath. The harder you breathe in the more NO the sinuses will deliver.

2. BLOCK ONE NOSTRIL AND BREATHE IN.

Blocking one nostril and in turn the other nostril will increase the partial vacuum to cause NO-laden air to be injected into your inhaled breath.

3. BLOCK BOTH NOSTRILS AND TRY TO BREATHE IN.

Close both nostrils and try to inhale. This creates the greatest amount of vacuum in your respiratory system allowing NO-laden air to be sucked from the sinuses. Of course you can only do this for a short time before resuming normal breathing.

4. BREATHE OUT SLOWLY THROUGH YOUR MOUTH.

NO needs time to be absorbed into your bloodstream. Accordingly it is good to hold your breath for as long as it is convenient. Alternatively exhale slowly to allow the lungs time to absorb the NO.

5. HUM OR SING

Lundberg et al showed in 2003 that humming increases exhaled NO by 700%. Other researcher found an even greater increase in exhaled NO during humming. Problem is that it is difficult to inhale while humming. Thus the sequence suggested is to hum for 3 seconds then immediately inhale..

6. PRETEND TO SNORE

To overcome the problem of simultaneously humming and inhaling, it is suggested to pretend to snore, making the sound as if you were snoring. The snoring sound frequencies are in the range of the maxillary sinuses natural frequencies approximately 110 to 350 Hz. Allowing the maxillary sinuses to resonate will pulse NO-laden air into the inhaled breath volume. Because snoring is an inhaling manoeuvre the NO will reach the lungs in greater volume.

7. VALSALVA MANOEUVRE

During a descent procedure in an aeroplane headaches are often avoided by use of the Valsalva manoeuvre. This manoeuvre involves closing both nostrils while attempting to exhale until the ear drums 'pop'. This has the effect of pressurizing the sinuses which upon subsequent inhalation release the pressure and inject NO-laden air into the olfactory airways.

FAQ's

A. NO in the sinuses is a finite resource and can be depleted. How can it be replenished? Eat plenty of food rich in Nitrates eg Beetroot, Fenugreek, etc and give your body time to convert the Nitrates into NO.

B. Why not breathe in NO gas like they do for babies with pulmonary hypertension? The dosage of NO in a medical setting is carefully controlled. Exposure of animals to NO has caused drowsiness, unconsciousness and death.

C. Why not sit in a high traffic area and breathe in the NO produced by cars? Motor vehicle exhaust gases do contain NO. However, exhaust gases are a toxic cocktail of other gases such as Carbon Monoxide. The risk of poisoning far outweighs any benefits to be gained.

After about 5 years of buying women's wear from China, India, Thailand, Bangladesh and Indonesia we found a need to ensure supply is according to the following:

• No child labour

• No Azo dyes that cause cancer

• No harsh processing chemicals that hurt the environment.

• Fabric from renewable sources

• Natural fire retardant fabric

We went a little further, and asked ourselves the question:

What can we add to our range of clothing that enhances wellness in the wearer?

We came up with some surprising answers. Watch this space.

WELLNESS-WEAR (Reg TM)

http://www.diana-ware.net

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Dr_Edward_Brell_PhD/752275

Read More