With huge waves of advanced technology, it seems like computer screens, phones and digital devices are what everyone is hooked upon these days. While what we are learning seems like a phenomenal result, long exposures to screens can leave you with serious eye strain.
According to the top eye specialists almost 59% of people who spend half of their routines on digital screens experience serious computer vision syndrome.
Common symptoms for eye strain are; eye fatigue, eye discomfort, constant itching, heavy headaches, blurry vision, constant neck and shoulder pain, occasionally eye twitching and red eyes. It might become a real problem and may hinder your overall productivity. To help believe yourself from such eye strains and other computer vision syndromes.
Here are 10 ways to reduce the risk for painful eyes
- Get a Detailed Eye Examination
If you’re daily routine requires a fair share of constant Screen Exposure, then getting yearly comprehensive eye exams should be one of your top health priorities. This helps you track any early onset eye problems. At times, something that started off as regular eye pain can develop into serious vision problems later on. Therefore it is always preferable to be on track on what can happen to your eye health later on. During your checkup be sure to mention your doctor about how often you use a computer or digital device at home. Also do a self-measure of how far your eyesight can reach, other than how close or far you keep your computer device while usually. Mention everything to your doctor for a good thorough checkup.
- Never Compromise On Lighting
One of the top reasons for eye strain to happen is when excessive bright light comes right into your vision. This can be due to the outdoors or due to harsh interior lighting. Same goes for bright screens. Many people use their computers by dimming the light of their surroundings. This is a wrong concept, an ambient lighting should be about half as bright as well-lit offices. If you are working from home, make sure to switch on the lights if your room is not naturally well-lit.
- Avoid the Reflecting Glare
It may seem like of less importance, but the glare that is directly reflected from sleek walls when light strikes on them can also cause eye strain. An unusual way of eye problem, but it happens more than direct exposure at times. The best way to tackle it using an anti-glare reflective coating. The AR coating minimizes the reflective effect. You can opt for AR glasses or AR screen protectors. If you are running an office setup, you should always have darker walls with a matte finish.
- Adjust your System’s Brightness
If you are too lazy to go to your doctor, or buy AR glasses or color paint your wall all over again. Here are few other ways to do that.
–Brightness: adjust the brightness of your screen. Most pages on your screen have white background. Once again, white has a lot to do with the reflection of blue light and can cause some serious eye pain. Same can go for the backgrounds which are way too dark, they can also affect your vision equally. Depending on what you are viewing, change your brightness settings.
– Text Size and Color Contrast: some people overlook this feature but it is important to adjust the text size and ratio of your display for right contrast and comfort. Blue light is a short wavelength which can easily harm eyes. Therefore be mindful of how bright or dull your vision is and how big or small the text ratio is.
– Color Temperature: funny how most of us could relate to this? Well turns out color temperature is an actual feeling. When you make changes in your screen display, you can actually adjust the warmth and tones of the color display of your screen.
- Exercise Your Eyes
Those little eyeballs need their own pace of movements to feel and function better. When you feel eye strain building up here is what you can do.
-Close your screen, switch off your mobile and put it away from you.
-Now close your eye for few seconds
-Focus on the farthest object around, keep your eyes there for 10 seconds. Shift your focus to the nearest object near you and maintain a sharp focus for 10 seconds. Do this exercise 3 to 5 times?
-You can also roll your eyes a couple of times to enhance your eye muscles (make sure not to do that in a room full of people.)
-Wash your eyes or use good eye drops.
-Follow the 20-20-20 rule, meaning after every 20 minutes of work, look away from your computer and gaze to a distant object for at least 20 second. This is important as it relaxes your eye muscles and helps reduce fatigue.
- Take Some Break
Whether you are rushing towards a deadline or you have to hand in the designated work. Make sure to always opt for short breaks. It does not have to be a complete cut off from work. It’s only your break from the screen. If you have some pending papers to read, focus on them. If you have to get some documents printed, go get them printed. Whenever you do decide to take a break, make sure you stand up and move around to stretch your arms, legs, back, neck and reduce the shoulders tension.
- Blink More often
Blinking coats your eyes with moisture which helps relieve the eye strain tension. If you don’t blink much, you will be left with dry eyes which cause more irritation to your eyeballs. Some offices or environments usually have more dry air than outside. If you constantly experience these problems, you can ask your doctor to provide you with safe artificial tears to help you with dry eyes during the day.
Note: Please don’t confuse lubricating eye drops with specialized eye drops formulated for red eyes. Always consult your doctor first before taking a trip to your local pharmacy.
Taking care of your eyes is important especially if you already suffer from short or long eye sightedness. Since eyes can also have a significant effect on your nerves. Make sure you follow all of our tips till the last for great, stress-free and sparkly eyes!
