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Digital Eye Strain: 10 Tips for Relief
Posted by: Scott and Christie Eyecare Associates in Technology
In this day and age, it has become nearly impossible to go a whole day without looking at some sort of digital screen. Some of us have to look at them all day while at work. Over 50% of people who work wi9th computers show eye strain and other bothersome visual symptoms. Here are 10 easy tips to reduce your risk of computer eye strain.
- Get a Comprehensive Eye Exam: Getting a routine comprehensive eye exam is the most important thing you can do to prevent or treat computer vision problems. Contact us to help schedule your routine comprehensive eye exam.
2. Use Proper Lighting: Excessive bright light often causes eye strain. When you use a computer, your ambient lighting should be about half as bright as computers found in an office.
3. Minimize Glare: Glare on walls and finished surfaces, as well as reflections on your computer screen also can cause computer eye strain. Consider installing an anti-glare screen on your monitor and, if possible, paint bright white walls a darker color with a matte finish. Again, cover the windows. When outside light cannot be reduced, consider using a computer hood.
4. Upgrade Your Display: If you have not already done so, replace your old tube-style monitor (called a cathode ray tube or CRT) with a flat-panel liquid crystal display (LCD), like those on laptop computers.
5. Adjust Computer Display Settings: Make sure the brightness of the display is about the same brightness of the surrounding workstation. The text size and contract should be adjusted for comfort.
6. Blink More Often: Blinking is very important when working at a computer; blinking moistens your eyes to prevent dryness and irritation. When working at a computer, people blink less frequently — about one-third as often as they normally do — and many blinks performed during computer work are only partial lid closures, according to studies.
7. Exercise Your Eyes: One exercise is to look far away at an object for 10-15 seconds, then gaze at something up close for 10-15 seconds. Then look back at the distant object. Do this 10 times. This exercise reduces the risk of your eyes’ focusing ability to “lock up” (a condition called accommodative spasm) after prolonged computer work.
8. Take Frequent Breaks: Take frequent breaks during your computer work day to reduce the risk of computer vision syndrome.
9. Modify Your Workstation: If you need to look back and forth between a printed page and your computer screen, this can cause eye strain. Using a desk lamp may help, as log as it does not shine into your eyes or on your computer screen.
10. Consider Computer Eyewear: For the greatest comfort at your computer, you might benefit from having a Scott and Christie doctor modify your eyeglasses prescription to create customized computer glasses.
Contact us at Scott and Christie Eyecare Associates if you have any questions regarding this or any other matter. Scott and Christie Eyecare Associates is proud to service the Pittsburgh and Cranberry area with top of the line ye care.
