Are you someone who often skimp on sleep and thinks you’ll catch up over the weekend? Well, you are not alone. In today’s fast-paced life, many people often take their sleep routine lightly. Whether it’s to watch their favourite show, working up late, or scroll social media endlessly, most people don’t give our sleep routine the attention it deserves.
And it’s easy to spot people who didn’t get enough sleep. Dark circles, puffy eyes, and drooping eyelids says it all. However, lack of sleep affects more than just your appearance. Poor metabolism, frustrated mood, and bad memory are adverse effects of skimping the daily dose of rest.
Though sleep is essential for overall health, its impact on vision and eye comfort is often overlooked. In this blog, we will explore how sleep affects your vision and eye comfort.
Sleep Deprivation and Eye Health
Your eyes do so much during the day. Processing every little information by constantly moving, focusing, and adjusting to different lighting conditions. So, when you sleep, they undergo the restorative processes. The cornea relies on oxygen and other nutrients during sleep, the eye’s tear film remains balanced to avoid dryness and irritation, and body repairs and regenerates eye tissues to reduce strain that gets accumulated from daily visual activities. In other words, sleep replenishes essential nutrients and keeps your vision sharp.
However, without adequate sleep, these processes get disturbed, and you may experience redness, dryness, an inability to focus, sensitivity to light, eye spasms, macular degeneration and Glaucoma in severe cases. If you are also feeling a little discomfort in your eyes, you must undergo a regular eye checkup.
Are You Getting Enough Sleep?
7 to 9 hours of sleep per night is usually recommended for adults. However, long working hours, irregular schedules, and lifestyle habits often disrupt sleep patterns, leading to eye discomfort, pain, and vision loss in extreme conditions of sleep deprivation. If you are someone who frequently wakes up tired or experiences eye problems, visit an eye doctor immediately.
How Sleep Affects Your Vision?
Ever pulled an all-nighter? If you did, you must know how it feels to not get enough sleep. Headache, a heavy sensation, or fast heartbeat are the signals of distress. It means that you should get proper rest every day. However, if your routine involves excessive working at night or you are casually up till 3 in the morning, chronic sleep deprivation may arise and can lead to more severe consequences, such as:
- Dry Eyes and Irritation: Inadequate sleep leads to dry, itchy, and red eyes. It is because when you sleep less, it reduces tear production. As a result, the eyes don’t get enough lubrication and their ability to prevent infections gets reduced. Inadequate sleep also causes discomfort and a gritty sensation, leading to inflammation. If this condition continues for long, you must get an appointment for an eye test exam.
- Increased Risk of Eye Diseases: Though a long night in a month or so is okay, if the sleep deprivation is taking over your daily routine, it may lead to serious eye conditions. Studies show that chronic sleep deprivation can cause eye diseases like glaucoma, dry eye syndrome, diabetic retinopathy, floppy eyelid syndrome, and corneal ulceration, etc., which may lead to permanent vision loss if not treated. So, if you are getting dry eyes, itchy eyes, or blurred vision, visiting an ophthalmologist for an eye checkup is a must.
- Sensitivity to Light, Eye Strain: Just like any other muscles in the body, eyes also get tired after prolonged use, making it harder to focus on work efficiently. The eyes may feel heavy or strained due to lack of sleep. In addition, unrested eyes become more sensitive to light and feel uncomfortable in bright environments, leading to squinting and eye strain. This sensitivity to light conditions is called photophobia.
- Reduced Visual Processing Speed: Adequate sleep is essential for cognitive function. If you do not get enough sleep, the brain’s ability to process visual stimuli. Poor sleep impairs reaction time, depth perception, and the ability to track moving objects which ultimately results in difficulty in reading, driving, and using digital devices.
- Eye Spasms (Myokymia): Poor sleep causes fatigue in eyes, resulting in involuntary eye twitching, known as Myokymia. Though these spasms don’t cause serious harm, they can be distracting and uncomfortable. Also, persistent twitching indicates chronic fatigue or excessive screen exposure.
Tips to Improve Sleep and Maintain Eye Health
Getting adequate sleep for a healthy mind and body shouldn’t be a challenge. It should come naturally and if not, tweaking your routine a bit can make a significant difference. For example, you can start with:
- Limiting Screen Time Before Bed: Many scientists, health workers, and eye doctors are constantly saying that you must limit screen time at least 2 hours before going to bed to protect your sleep and eyes. This is because the blue light that emit from phones, TVs, and other screens interfere with melatonin production and makes it harder to fall asleep.
- Establish a Sleep Schedule: Maintaining biological sleep clocks are important. Keep your bed time consistent. For example, sleep and wake up at the same time. It helps regulate the sleep cycle and you will get up fresh and energetic. Also, the consistent rest improves the health of your eyes.
- Practice the 20-20-20 rule: If your schedule involves excessive screen time, practicing the 20-20-20 rule can help. This rule means you should take a 20-second break every 20 minutes to look at something 20 feet away. This activity reduces eye strain and helps maintain eye moisture.
- Use drops: If you are feeling dryness in your eyes, using lubricating eye drops can help. They provide relief and prevent irritation. However, excessive dryness can be a cause of eye disease and seeing an eye surgeon can help.
Conclusion
Sleep routine plays a significant role in our overall well-being and specially in maintaining eye health and vision clarity. Those who don’t sleep enough due to work hours or irregular sleep patterns may face eye conditions like dry eyes, blurred vision, and maybe long-term complications like glaucoma, if not treated properly. Hence, prioritizing good sleep hygiene can prevent these health issues and keep your vision sharp for years to come. If you still find yourself in a tough spot considering the sleep routine and eye conditions, contact Prof. Chameen Samarawickrama for expert care and guidance.
One of the best consultant surgeons in Australia, Prof Chameen is experienced in cataract surgery, corneal transplant, laser eye surgery, and ICL surgery and ensures that your eyes remain comfortable and function optimally.