Sleep and Vision Intersects

Does sleep affect your eye health?

Getting enough sleep is great for our overall health and our eye health alike. At the other end of things, we can improve the quality of our sleep if we are more careful about what we put in front of our eyes before we go to bed.

The Impact of Sleep Deprivation on Eye Health

Nearly everyone knows what it’s like to feel sleep deprived in the short term. We feel grumpy and drowsy and struggle to concentrate. Over time, however, the effects are more dramatic. 

Chronic sleep deprivation can weaken our immune systems, make it harder to lose weight, increase our blood pressure, make us moodier, and make us more prone to memory loss. Our eyes don’t escape unscathed either.

We need at least five hours of sleep each night for our eyes to replenish themselves for a new day. Beyond helping us keep our eyes open, our eyes need sleep to prevent eye strain, dry eye, and eye twitches. Thankfully, our eyes also play a role in getting more and better quality sleep that will help them function at their best!

Blue Light from Screens Can Mess Up Our Internal Clocks

As tech-savvy as we become with our modern devices, we still can’t change the biology of our eyes. Only the last few decades of the entirety of human history have included sources of blue light that come from anywhere but the sun. Our brains are wired to interpret blue light as daytime, when we should be awake. The later we look at our screens in the evening, the more we trick our brains into thinking it’s not bedtime.

Limit the Blue Light around Bedtime

Anyone who’s had a harder time falling asleep in the smartphone era might have better luck if they avoid screens in the hour before bed. If that isn’t possible, blue light filters on the screen can help significantly as well. Try it out and see if it makes a difference for your quality of sleep. It will also help your eye health!

Make Eye Exams a Priority

We’re happy to answer any questions our patients have about the connections between sleep and eye health, and we can easily do so the next time you see us for an eye exam. Until then, try to get plenty of sleep while practicing good care and safety of your contact lenses, and don’t forget to dim the blue lights before bed!

We’re excited to see you in our clinics!

For inquiries, questions, and appointments, call our Patient Care Lines (8 AM to 8 PM):

📱 (+632) 7-368 5238

📱 (+63) 917 862 7454

📱 (+63) 921 217 0517 

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