Blink training for eye health

Press, 6 September 1989, Page 12

Blink training for eye health

NZPA-AAP Sydney Following in the footsteps of footy training, dog training, and even i husband training comes blink training. Queensland University of Technology researchers have found some people need help with learning to blink properly in order to keep their eyes moist and clean. Their work, reported in the latest “Eyecare Aus-

tralia” magazine, shows that incomplete blinkers are more likely to develop eye infections, especially if they wear contact lenses. An optometrist and Q.U.T. researcher, Michael Collins, said the problem could make contact lenses wear out more quickly, and cause soreness and stinging eyes. “We see a lot more of the problem now because so many people with mar-

ginal blinking problems work in air-conditioned offices and, while their eyes are moist when they wake up, they are dry and uncomfortable by the end of the day,” he said. To rectify the problem, people should be trained in deliberate blinking. About 17 per cent of all blinks were incomplete, meaning the upper eyelid covered less than twothirds of the cornea.