Site for Sore Eyes Berkeley on Benefits of Sleep

It is around this time of year that students settle back into school. Classes are in session, and studying and socializing are in full swing. We at Site for Sore Eyes Berkeley are getting a lot of students, some who are of high school age, and others who are enrolled at nearby Berkeley University, stop by for their yearly check-ups in mid-February. With that in mind, we would like to offer up a little advice…

The secret word of the day is ‘sleep.’ This is a tricky topic, especially for young people. This is understandable, to some extent. This is the age where they want to prove their invincibility. Staying up all night – partying, hanging out, or even for more serious reasons such as pulling an all-nighter to study for exams – is something that young people do. Further accentuating the problem is that sleep is seen as uncool. On a recent web search, we found numerous listings of the phrase ‘sleep is for wimps.’ This is indeed an uphill battle.

But sleep, like eating, is a necessary function of living. We must sleep (at some time, even when nobody else knows about it), in order to stay alive. One aspect of survival that we are weighing in on is how lack of sleep affects vision (what a surprise). If you forego sleep, you risk getting blurred vision. If your eyes twitch for no apparent reason, it may be on account of a lack of sleep. This are called eye spasms. (We don’t even like the sound of that.) Your eyes may even experience pain because the optic nerve is not getting the proper blood supply. Dry eye, popped blood vessels, and in some extreme cases, non-sleepers may run the risk of suffering from glaucoma.

The answer to avoid such worries is of course, to rest up. According to EyeHealth Northwest, the human eye must have five hours of sleep per night to replenish properly. (That’s not to say you only need five hours of sleep. It is recommended that everyone should get at least eight hours of sleep per night.)

So, the next time you’re feeling tired at night, but feel you HAVE to go out, take a breather and treat yourself to some sleep. Your eyes will be better for it, which in turn will make your overall health better.

Oh, before we forget, if you wear contact lenses, remember to take them out before you tuck yourself in to bed. Otherwise you’ll really have dry eyes!

Site for Sore Eyes wishes you pleasant dreams tonight!