Computer Eye Strain is on the rise as our daily screen time increases. Lengthy periods in front of the computer, television, tablet or phone take their toll. Adam see’s patients every day with symptoms caused from sub-optimal screen time.
Understanding that for many of us, screen time is non-negotiable, Adam wanted to share with everyone what they can do to minimise the strain.
Here is the part two of Adam’s three-part series developed to help us all make small changes that can have a big impact on comfort and productivity.
Part Two – Take a Look Around
Hi everyone, Adam from The Eye Place here, with part two of our three-part series on computer eye strain and the things you can do to try to minimise the impact.
Taking a Break
This part is all about the importance of giving your eyes and your body a break from the screen.
The Importance of Blinking
So first, thinking is blinking! You want to think to blink. When we’re on the computer, if we’re there for a long time even, our blink rate decreases to about twenty percent of our normal blink rate. Also, when you’re staring at the screen in an air-conditioned office, your tears dry out, so you tend to suffer from dry eyes, which lead to red, tired eyes.
So just think to blink! Consciously blink as often as you can when you staring at a computer screen.
Look Away
The next tip is to look away from the computer screen. Aim to look away at least every 20 minutes. Look at something 20 meters away, say a picture on the wall across the office, and do that for 20 seconds. Every 20, at 20 for 20!!
Walk Away
Thirdly, if you can get up, walk around, stretch your legs, stretch your body, basically stretching your eyes at the same time and the muscles controlling your eyes as you’re looking away, and focusing on different objects at different distances around rather than on the set of your computer straining distance.
One of the reasons that your eyes get tired and fatigue is because your eyes are maintaining that set focal distance and having a hold your eyes in that position for a long period.
So, if you would think of you’re holding your arm out, at that set distance for even longer than half an hour, your arm muscles are going to get fatigued and tired. That’s the same impact that your eye muscles are having a compensated for by holding your focus on your computer screen or documents that you might be reading.
Get Checked
It’s always good that you get your eyes checked regularly so every two years you should have a full eye test not on the checking of your vision and prescription, but also to examine your eye health to make sure that we’re picking up on anything early. Much better than trying to manage any conditions further down the track when it’s much harder to do so.
