Adequate sleep helps to replenish and rebuild our bodies after the wear and tear of daytime activity and stress, the eyes are no exception. Skimping on your beauty sleep, in the short term, affects mood, motivation, memory, metabolism, and much more including eye health.
Inadequate sleep can occur in three ways:
- Insufficient sleep would be less than 7 hours a night.
- Interrupted sleep is often when sleep is interrupted by bathroom visits, TVs, and other sources that can wake a person, leading to inadequate sleep making it hard to fall asleep again.
- Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that happens when breathing stops and starts while sleeping
Sleep deprivation for any reason can take a toll on your eyes. Some are mild while others can become quite serious. On the mild side:
- Dark circles under the eyes
- wrinkles
- Eyes look puffy
- Eye spasms and twitching
- Dry and itchy eyes
- Bloodshot eyes
- Rubbing tire dies can lead to infection
Some of the more serious eye conditions from lack of sleep:
- Glaucoma
- Anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION)
- Central serous retinopathy
To avoid these problems get the proper amount of sleep, at least seven hours a night. Follow these tips for better sleep:
- Reduce blue light exposure in the evening
- Don’t consume caffeine late in the day
- Be consistent with bedtime and waking time
- Optimize your sleep environment-temperature, noise, light, and furniture arrangement
- Don’t eat late in the evening
- Relax and clear your mind in the evening
- Reduce fluid and take one to two hours before bed
Sources:
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