What You Must Know About Eyestrain

Optometrist Anshel (Smart Medicine for Your Eyes) tackles the common ailment of eyestrain in this informative guide. The condition is not necessarily vision threatening, Anshel advises, but it can make life miserable since vision is people’s “main way to interact with the world.” The condition is often the result of things that can easily be corrected, among them poor lighting, improper computer display contrast, nutritional imbalances, and even sleeping posture. Anshel offers plenty of small but significant ways to improve or correct the problem: readers should ensure that uncovered windows are off to the side while they’re looking at a computer, not behind their screen; eat B vitamins; and opt for larger-text books. There’s a helpful “symptom and cause chart,” a useful “Three B” mantra (it stands for blink, breathe, and break), and some workspace modifications to implement. Anshel also explores the anatomy of the eye, visual stress, eye strain in children, vision and aging, and the possibility of eyeglass lenses to help the issue, even if one has good sight. The survey is almost encyclopedic in its comprehensiveness. This accessible resource will empower readers to get their eyes in check. (Mar.)