Yes, if that’s the advice of your doctor or eye specialist. And yes, until you have your eyes tested to see if that is the advice or not.
In ALL cases where you have or perceive a problem with your eyes, you MUST see an eye specialist/optician to have your eyes tested.
Nothing in this article or any of the suggestions is a replacement for expert vision care from a professional.
Using roXiva or any photic driven brainwave entrainment device a few times a week or even every day is very unlikely to have any effect on your eyes in a negative way by itself. And of course with the roXiva RX1 you can use sessions with sound only until you get your eyes checked.
And if you do experience strained or sensitive eyes you have the option to turn down the power and/or move it further away from the face.
Remember we recommend a distance of 50-100cm (0.5 to 1 metre) away from your face.
Eye strain, sensitivity or gradual changing of vision over time is usually always due to a combination of factors most of which with education and care can be made better.
I’m not talking about glaucoma or cataracts which may require further action than anything suggested here, and those conditions can be confirmed or ruled out by your doctor and/or eye specialist.
So once you have seen your eye specialist, there are likely to be a number of recommendations made by them including some or all of the following ideas.
What most commonly causes eye strain?
Stress or tiredness.
Lack of proper hydration.
Pollution, dust or smoke.
Dry eyes (EG: In an air conditioned room).
Incorrect prescription for glasses or contact lenses.
Lack of micronutrients in the diet.
Excessive time outside without good sunglasses (even if cloudy).
Multiple hours looking at a computer, tablet, phone or TV.
Multiple hours driving, reading or focusing on one task.
Too much light or not enough light in your room.
What can I do to help my eyes feel more relaxed?
Start by relaxing.
Obvious right!?
The solution to most of the above potential problems is obvious. Drink more water, improve air quality, get adequate sleep, use eye drops if you have to, check you have the right prescription for corrective lenses, eat healthily etc.
And a big one that people often forget.., wear good quality sunglasses outside even when it is cloudy and not full sun. Damaging rays of UV and high amounts of blue light are not effected in a significant way by cloud cover. Full sun is of course more intense and harsher but don’t leave your sunglasses at home just because it’s not a sunny day.
Your doctor or eye specialist will have ways to help you improve all of these possible causes of eye strain.
I won’t say anything more about these or diet, but the main causes of eye strain in today’s ever increasing reliance on technology.., is the technology itself.
Digital eye strain.
Spending hours in front of a computer screen (or any screen) can be very tiring and straining on your eyes. In fact looking at ANY one point of focus for a long time will likely create tension in your eyes, neck and shoulders.
Eyes are designed to vary their focus on different objects at different distances. In the same way as not moving a leg or arm for a long time will result in soreness.., so to not moving your focus for a long time will result in eye soreness and strain too.
Typically screens have a flicker or refresh rate that over time can be tiring and a high enough amount of blue light to cause strain also.
Blue light should not be labelled as bad due to this though, and I cover some of this in another article called ‘Is blue light bad for me’.
The obvious first step is to make sure the room or environment that you are in is adequately lit or dimmed. Too high a contrast between the screen you look at and the surrounding light levels will cause the pupils to expand and absorb more light than if the room is lit adequately all around you. Eyes will naturally adjust to light levels around you but one bright area in a dark room is not natural and will cause eye strain over time.
By all means watch a movie in the dark if you prefer but try at other times to have uniform light around you.
Keep in mind that any light source at night has the potential to alter your internal body clock (called the circadian rhythm) and make getting to sleep and having a high quality of sleep impaired.
As for blue light, which as I mentioned can be straining but should not be feared at all because it is actually useful.., we are not genetically designed to have that form of light (or any form in quantity) after sunset and excessive amounts of blue light after sunset can interfere with hormones such as melatonin and serotonin, again making your quality of sleep worse.
What can you do to help with digital eye strain?
Firstly, limit the use of technology. Easy. Or is it?
Unfortunately most of us rely on technology for our work, life planning and day to day activities.
So here is a couple of well known ideas to implement into your use of computers, tablets and phones.
Make sure you have correct alignment of posture and level of screen to your eyes. This may mean having the keyboard separate from the screen (like with a monitor plugged into your laptops USB) so that the screen can be higher and at about 60cm away so you’re not looking down constantly or too close.
If you normally wear contact lenses but also have glasses.., opt for the glasses when using your computer as they allow for more moisture to be in contact with the eyes and blinking to be more effective.
Have a warm white light bulb in the room you use your screen in both for the correct lighting of the room, and for low levels of blue light.
Typically bulbs are LED’s more and more these days and they come in primarily two hue’s or colour temperatures.., cool white and warm white. Cool white is closer to daylight in blue wavelength intensity whereas warm white is closer to a sunset where the light has a slight yellow tint due to the amount of blue light being reduced. Choose warm white.
Use a blue light filter and or blue blocking glasses.
Blue blocking glasses will give the best result and can be purchased cheaply online.
There are applications you can install on your devices though that will help also.
Currently I use one called twilight for my phone and f.lux for my laptop. What these filters do is use the time of day to adjust the amount of blue light that is emitted by the screen. So for example, as the sun sets outside, the application will adjust the colour of your screen to match.
This helps you to reduce eye strain and helps minimise the effect of light on your circadian body clock timings.
Adopt the 20/20/20 rule.
This is a useful way to keep your eyes relaxed by varying the focus every now and then.
So the rule is.., every 20 minutes, look at something at least 20 metres away, for 20 seconds.
Simple.
You just have to remember to do it, haha.
Remember.., if you notice any irritation, soreness or sensitivity to your eyes or changing of quality of vision.., you MUST see your doctor and/or vision specialist immediately. It is always better to be safe and get an expert opinion.
I hope this has given you some idea’s on looking after your eyes and reinforced your commitment to looking after them.
As for roXiva use if you find yourself needing expert help with your eyes.., discuss roXiva use with your health professional and stop using it if that is the recommendation.
And as always…
See you on the other side.