Dr. Stephen Rose: Hello! I am Dr. Stephen Rose of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, and I am here today to talk to you about healthy habits that can keep your eyes strong, specifically ways to fight eye fatigue.

From the moment we open our eyes in the morning, our eyes work nonstop. They have to constantly adjust to changes in light and to viewing things that are close up like the computer screen and far away like a street sign.

Strain and fatigue aren't good for your eyes, but there are simple things that we can do in our daily lives to give our eyes a rest.

In this day and age computers are everywhere. Some of us use them all day long in our job or at school and looking at a computer screen for 8 hours a day can take a toll on your eyes.

If you spend a lot of time at the computer or focusing on any one thing, you sometimes forget to blink and your eyes can get fatigue, this can result in temporary shortsightedness and even double vision.

To avoid this, position the monitor so that it's at or just below eye level and a little further away than you hold the book while reading. You can also use a screen filter to cut down the glare on your screen.

Dr. Alexander Smith: So the issue with computer is that at anytime you are sitting down at the computer the muscles on your eyes are having the strain and it is almost like lifting weights with your eye muscles. Whereas an arm muscle, just get stronger than more you left weights, they actually just start to get tire the eye muscles.

So one of the things you need to do to make sure you do is take a lot of breaks.

Dr. Stephen Rose: Try the 20, 20, 20 rules; every 20 minutes look away about 20 feet in front of you for 20 seconds. This can help reduce eye strain and whenever possible take breaks periodically from the computer to give your eyes a rest.

Computer use is just one fatigue factor for eyes. Some other habits to keep in mind include, reading in good light, dim light won't hurt your eyes but can tire them more quickly. If you have prescription glasses or contacts use them. You won't have to strain so hard to see.

Clean your hands and your contact lenses properly. To avoid the risk of infection always wash your hands thoroughly before putting in or taking out your contact lenses.

Be sure to disinfect contact lenses as instructed and replace them as appropriate.

And last, but not least, if you are a smoker quit smoking. And if you are not a smoker, don't start. Smoking is as bad for your eyes as it is for the rest of your body and research shows that it's a leading cause of vision robbing eye diseases, like age related macular degeneration.

If you'd like more information visit fightblindness.

org and check out our other videos on tips for healthy eyes including the importance of having regular eye exams.