If you are going through a particularly busy time of life, it is common to experience stress. There are a number of ways stress can manifest itself in the human body, including exhaustion and increased/decreased appetite. For some people, stress can also can affect the eyes.

The mechanism behind why stress causes eye problems is slightly complicated. When a person becomes stressed, their body begins to produce a variety of hormones that increase heart rate and reduce blood flow to the extremities. These changes occur because the brain interprets stress as indicating a threat and as a result prepares to take action. Sometimes referred to as “fight or flight” response, this reaction by the body is not helpful in response to anything but a physical crisis.

During this reaction, the pupils dilate so that more light can enter the eyes and a person can better see any potential threats. For people who experience stress for an extended period of time, this period of dilation and increased sensitivity to light can result in severe eye strain. In some people who experience stress, the muscles surrounding their eyes can also tighten which can cause fatigue, twitching, and soreness.

To help you take steps against eye irritation caused by stress, this article will review some of the important information that you should know about how one affects the other.

Tip # 1 – Methods to Reduce Eye Irritation Caused By Stress

The first step to reduce stress is to relax as soon as warning signs are noticed. By staying calm, a person can reduce the likelihood that the body will go into ‘danger mode’. Relaxation strategies include exercising, meditating, deep breathing, or taking long baths. If you are stressed, you might not feel that you have the time, but taking a few minutes to relax can significantly help both body and mind. For people who feel stress frequently, it is often a wise idea to consult with a medical professional who can make suggestions for emotional and physical wellbeing.

Tip # 2 – Recognize the Symptoms of Stress Related Eye Problems

Some of the most common vision problems caused by stress include:

• Blurry vision
• Excessively dry or wet eyes
• Eye strain- often associated with fatigue
• Eye twitching
• Sensitivity to light
• Tunnel vision, which occurs when a person loses their ability to see on either side and is only able to see directly in front

Tip # 3 – Steps to Prevent Stress From Impacting Your Vision

If you begin to notice that stress has affected your eyesight, there are some steps that you can take to confront the issue:

• Find a healthy distraction to take your mind off of what is causing your stress.
• If your eyes are affected by stress while operating machinery, immediately stop using the equipment.
• Perform light exercises like brisk walking if it’s safe to move around freely.
• Shut your eyes for several minutes and rest.
• Use regulated breathing exercises such as exhaling through the mouth and inhaling deeply through your nose.
• Try guided or unguided meditation. Meditation has been proven to reduce stress and improve mood and outlook.

Tip # 4 – Other Ways Stress Can Affect Your Health

In addition to vision, stress can affect a person’s body in the following ways:

• An association has been shown between stress and breathing difficulties, including asthma.
• It is uncertain exactly why it occurs, but stress can cause hair loss. Individual hairs generally follow a unique pattern in which the hair grows and then falls out. In a healthy scalp, hair grows at varying paces which means that a person does not lose all their hairs at one time. Stress disrupts the normal growth process, allowing multiple hairs to go into a resting phase prematurely and then fall out in clumps.
• Stress can delay recovery time following an illness.
• Several types of skin disorders can be caused by stress, including acne and psoriasis.
• Stress may cause weight gain due to ‘emotional eating’.
• The digestive system may operate in abnormal ways when under stress.

Obtain Assistance for Irritated Eyes

Fortunately, if you find that your eyes become irritated due to stress, there are some available measures to soothe dryness or irritation. Many people have discovered that Cliradex towelettes are effective in reducing irritation even after just one application.