When you have to use a computer or other electronic devices such as a TV, smartphone, etc. regularly, your eyes may become strained and dry. This symptom is popular among young people and office workers. So, how to protect your eyes from too much screen time at the office? Let’s have a look at this article.
What Happens to your eyes when using a computer regularly?
According to some US studies, about three-quarters of people using computers regularly experience eye dysfunctions such as strained or dry eyes, burning sensation, dazzle, purblind, headache, and pain in the shoulders, neck, and back. These symptoms are known are computer vision syndrome (CVS).
What causes CVS?
Apart from harmful environmental factors such as sunlight, wind, dust, etc., the following reasons can make your eyes look fatigued:
- Poor or excessive light and reflections from the screen
- Wrong sitting position
- Incorrect viewing distance
- Eye diseases such as presbyopia, astigmatism, or presbyopia
- Decreased amount of tears to the cornea due to a reduction in the number of blinks
How to Use Computers and Electronic devices correctly?
To have healthy eyes and maintain good eyesight, it is necessary to learn by heart these following principles to reduce eye strain and dryness:
- Keep the computer screen clean: Dust on the computer screen will make it hard for your eyes to read information, leading to eye fatigue. Therefore, cleansing the computer screen is the first thing you should do to reduce eye tension when having to work for long hours.
- Follow the 20-20-20 rule: After 20 minutes of working, you should take a break for 20 seconds, and look at something 20 feet (about 6 meters) away. Your eyes have muscles to help them move and concentrate on objects. However, if you look at the screen for too long, the flexibility of your eye muscles will be reduced, and it is hard to move them towards other things.
- Adjust the screen brightness: A bright screen may cause you to tear and harm your eyes.
- Wear glasses instead of contact lenses: Contact lenses cannot protect your eyes from too much screen time. It even dries your eyes. So, wear glasses instead.
- Wear anti-glare glasses: If you have to wear glasses all day long, choose the anti-glare ones.
- Keep a safe distance from the computer screen: Always maintain a considerable distance from the screen to your eyes while working. This is also the reason why using a desktop is better than using a tablet or laptop.
- Increase the size of words on the screen: When you have to write or read speedily, you should increase the word size so that your eyes do not have to work too hard to clarify them. This way, you are reducing negative pressures on your eyes.
- Wear plain glasses: Even if your eyes are perfectly healthy, you should still wear plain glasses to protect them from blue light from the screen.
- Use a vision screensaver: Installing a vision screensaver on your computer is good enough. It will help reduce stress on your eyes and keep them healthy and bright.
How to Protect your eyes from too much Screen time?
The most effective way must be adjusting working duration, as overworking with the computer is the most dangerous factor causing your eyes to drain. However, there are still ways to save your eyes and keep them healthy when you have to work long hours, such as:
- Blink regularly: This will provide your eyes with tears to reduce the symptoms of eye dryness and strain.
- Massage your eyes: Massage your eyes every day by rubbing two hands together to heat them and applying them to your eyes. Massage gently until you feel comfortable. You can also apply some cucumber or tomato slices to your eyes to help them relax.
- Put in eye drops: After a hard-working day, you should put in some eye drops to nurture your eyes. Close your eyes and relax. Like other parts of the body, your eyes need to be hydrated. You can consult with your doctor to choose the most appropriate eye drop.
- Protect your eyes before bedtime: Before going to bed, you should minimize the brightness in the room, because it may stimulate your vision, motivate your cerebral cortex, and make it hard to fall asleep. You should open the door to increase the ventilation because your eyes also need oxygen to “breathe.”
- Don’t squint: Computers, tablets, and smartphones all have a zoom function for easier reading. Hence, there is no need for squinting. It is not only meaningless but also harmful to your eyes.
- Roll your eyes: Opening your eyes wide and rolling them is said to be a wonderful eye relaxation exercise.
- Pay attention to your diet: You need to increase the intake of dark leafy vegetables, red and yellow-colored fruits, and vitamin A to ensure healthy eyes from the inside.
- Have eye check-ups every 6 months to identify eye diseases.
Above, we have introduced to you straightforward but useful ways to protect your eyes from too much screen time. If you know other tips, please share them with us by commenting on the box below. Thanks for reading!