Technology has become an integral part of our lives in today’s world. Whether it be for work or for other reasons, the average person spends the majority of their time looking at some kind of digital screen. Naturally, our eyes are not made for this lifestyle and suffer due to it. This phenomenon is known as digital eye strain or computer vision syndrome. In this blog, we’re going to take a look at how technology is straining our eyes and how to avoid it. Digital Eye Strain/Computer Vision Syndrome Using a digital device for two or more hours during a day causes our eyes to experience discomfort and strain. While the discomfort is temporary and does not cause any long-term damage, it significantly affects our quality of life. Causes of Digital Eye Strain/Computer Vision Syndrome:
- Digital screens usually have text, which is really small-sized and pixelated images. Our eyes have to work harder to focus when we are working with digital screens, which leads to them getting strained.
- Digital screens also emit High-Energy blue light (HEV), which is known to cause strain in our eyes.
- Lack of proper posture and vision habits in the workplace and in our daily lives leads to digital eye strain/computer vision syndrome issues in people.
Tips to Avoid Digital Eye Strain While we cannot stop our reliance on digital devices for work or fun completely, we can definitely take steps to minimize the strain they cause on our eyes.
- Practice proper posture when using digital devices
- If you’re working on a laptop or a PC, ensure there is at least an arm’s distance between your eyes and the screen. The screen should also ideally be placed in such a way that it is either at your eye level or slightly below your eye level.
- When using your smartphone, ensure your device’s screen is below your eye level and at a distance where you can comfortably read the text on it.
- Keep your screen clean to reduce glare and dim the lights surrounding the screen of the device to reduce the stress on your eyes when you’re working.
- Change the settings on your devices
- Most devices have settings to increase the text size on your screen and to reduce the amount of HEV light the screen emits. You can reduce eye strain by increasing the size of the text and reducing the amount of HEV light emitted by the screen.
- Healthy vision habits
- When our eyes are focused on a digital screen, we tend to blink a lot less than we naturally do. This causes our eyes to be dehydrated, leading to discomfort. Whenever you’re working on a digital device, remember to blink every once in a while to keep your eyes hydrated.
- One of the most well-known tips for reducing digital eye strain is the 20-20-20 rule. For every 20 minutes of focusing on a digital screen, you should look at something 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds. This allows your eyes to refocus and gives them some rest. The short breaks add up over the day and your eyes stay fresh and healthy.
Conclusion Digital eye strain/computer vision syndrome affects millions of people all over the world. With the growing increase in our dependence on technology for work and play, the number of affected people would only increase in the future. By practising good vision habits and understanding how it affects, we can take steps to avoid eye strain from technology.
