The verdict is in.
There is officially nothing the gym can’t fix.
The University of Waterloo just released a study showing exercise can relieve dry and itchy eyes. [R]
Anyone who suffers from dry eyes wouldn’t wish it on their worst enemy.
Even a slight breeze or an air-conditioned room will feel like torture.
Having to administer eyes drops every 30 minutes hinders your work and any type of athletic activity.
Worst of all, giving into the irresistible urge to itch your eyes does not help.
It only makes it worse.
Here’s how the Canadian researchers explain how our eyes are meant to stay healthy:
Every time we blink, we coat our eyes with a thin layer of tear film, made up of oil, water, and mucin.
Whenever any of these components become unstable, our eyes go through that perpetual state of itchiness, burning, and stinging.
It’s like a persistent allergy.
Normally, people would use eye drops as a quick and easy solution. Which works… for a few minutes.
PhD candidate Heinz Otchere had a hunch that there must be a natural way to recover the homeostasis in ocular tear film:
“Instead of having to use eye drops or other alternative treatments, our study aimed to determine if remaining physically active can be an effective preventative measure against dryness,” he says.
And he was right.
The study took visual examinations of both athletes and non-athletes before and after a workout, and both groups showed significantly higher tear quantity and quality after exercising.
The digital age is putting more strain on our eyes than ever before, so this is no time to neglect you ocular health.
If you ever find yourself rubbing your eyes after neglecting the gym for too long, you know what to do.