Answers to the most often asked questions about makeup removing, reading War and Peace at night without bad impacts on eyes and eternal worries about сomputer and TV screens.
Vision – Separating Fact from Fiction (2)
Do poor-quality cosmetics affect vision, or leaving it on overnight?
It’s about the same as never changing your underwear. Makeup can clog the small glands that are responsible for the irrigation of the eyes, and it creates an environment for bacteria. It’s better to use a warm compress, remove your makeup every night, and apply drops.
And computer or tv screens? What if you’re around them 10 hours a day, like I am?
In the context of large monitors, like televisions, there was a thing called “computer vision syndrome”. Among the electronic rays shown on the screen was a frequency that the eyes couldn’t see, but the brain could perceive, and this affected vision: it reduced the nictitans reflex and increased dryness, as well as expose the viewer to some level of radiation. Current LCD monitors do not have this frequency, so they are most likely safe.
But what about sitting in front of a monitor in the dark? Still bad?
“Do not watch tv at night” and similar slogans are all untrue. Watch tv in the dark, if you like, or read under a blanket with a flashlight.
My eyes quickly get tired in the dark, though.
That usually happens: when you watch something up close for a long period of time, a spasm of accommodation might occur. Even if you have artificial lenses, the eyes still try to accommodate and the muscles fatigue. The eyes need to periodically shift from close-up to distant objects, like glancing out the window at birds.
And mobile phones? Many are reading “Arabian Nights” and “War and Peace” on their phone and using Facebook.
It’s the same; no harm is done. Just look up sometimes and remember there’s more to life. There was a theory that blue light tires out the eyes, so on the iPhone there’s a function called night time, and it replaces blue light on the screen with yellow, which will supposedly tire you less. But there’s no evidence to support this.
Is it true that sunglasses do more harm than good?
When you wear them, the world becomes darker and your pupil expands. So if your glasses don’t block ultraviolet light, then an even greater amount enters your eye. All glasses sold in the United States, however, are legally required to have this protection. The glassware, of its own accord, does not allow UV light through.
But usually these glasses are plastic. Jack Nicholson always wears sunglasses indoors; isn’t that harmful?
In this case, there must be a special protective coating, and it’s only harmful in the sense that you might trip over something.
And the eternal question – reading lying down.
When you lay down, your eyes gravitate toward the nose, and this causes the muscles to get more tired than usual, but in principle reading while lying down is not dangerous.
(to be continued)
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