What is eye strain? And what causes it?
Ever been glued to your computer screen because of a long project, a busy season at work, or just surfing the web? Your eyes probably felt tired and irritated when you finally broke away from the screen. That’s eye strain, and it is caused by any activity that depends on prolonged use of focused vision. While computer screens in the digital age are majorly responsible, you can get eye strain from driving or reading as well.
As we have become more dependent on screens, eye strain is also on the rise. What once was a common condition is now almost a guarantee with the number of screens in our lives. The eye strain caused by computers or other devices is called digital eye strain, but both are in the same condition.
Most effects of eye strain are not serious and just bothersome. You’ll likely experience headaches, blurred vision, dry eyes, or a combination of these. Eye strain rarely develops serious complications, but if it persists, this could be a sign of a more severe condition you should discuss with your doctor. To avoid any serious complications, you should consider limiting your screen time. One serious complication is permanent damage to your eyesight.
We’ll discuss seven ways you can relieve eye strain symptoms.
Easy Solutions for Eye Strain:
1. Limit screen time, if that isn’t an option consider the 20-20-20 rule.
Eye strain occurs when we look or focus on something for an extended time. The largest garner of our attention in this day-in-age is our electronic devices. You should try to limit your daily screen time to avoid eye strain. Many electronic devices include screen time monitoring programs to help you track and budget your screen time.
If cutting down on your screen time isn’t an option, you should consider the 20-20-20 rule. The rule states you should focus on something that is at least 20 feet away from your screen, every 20 minutes, for 20 seconds. The point of using this rule is to simply give your eyes a much need break from focusing on something up close.
2. If the air is dry, your eyes will be dry.
Outside of screens, dry or polluted air is not helping your eyes. Homes, offices, or apartments that have poor air quality will also contribute to eye strain. Luckily this is an easy fix. You can easily buy a humidifier or turn down your heat or air conditioner.
3. It's getting harder to keep your eyes healthy considering electronic devices.
Maintaining proper eye health will only get more difficult as we rely more and more on screens. The listed solutions above can help alleviate the symptoms associated with eye strain, but the fact remains you’re still going to be using screens frequently.
Your best approach would be to implement some of the changes above and choose Clarity, a natural clear vision dietary supplement. The once-a-day vitamin will improve your overall eye health and work to prevent vision deterioration.
4. Move that monitor!
The distance between your eyes and your screen is a key factor considering eye strain. Your screen should be about an arm’s length away and below eye level. If you are having trouble viewing text on your screen after adjusting to the appropriate distance, try increasing the font size on your actual screen or using the “zoom” function to get a better look at the contents. Don’t forget about handheld devices. The proper distance rules apply as well!
5. Lighting is everything!
Your electronic devices are the culprit of a damaging source of light to your eyes it is called: blue light. Blue light is linked to macular degeneration, which is not curable and can lead to blindness. When using your devices, you need to have other lights on in addition to the device. The worst thing you can do is sit in a dark room or office with your phone or laptop on full brightness.
Lighting is a delicate balance. You don’t want everything too bright either because glare can also be attributed to eye strain. The best situation is one where the device isn’t the only source of light in a dark room.
6. Go see your eye doctor.
A yearly comprehensive eye exam should be part of everyone's medical routine. Eye doctors will be able to catch eye-related problems due to computer screens early on and offer you treatment or solutions. Make sure to communicate honestly with your eye doctor about your screen time and the distance between the monitor and your eyes so they can complete a full test.
7. Invest in computer glasses
Speaking of the eye doctor, at your next yearly eye exam, you can ask them to make your current glasses into computer glasses. These special lenses are made to filter out the damaging blue light we discussed early. If you don’t want your regular glasses to be computer glasses, you can also buy cheaper versions online. Just remember they usually are prescription lenses when not purchased from an eye doctor.
Final thoughts:
We can live without electronic devices, but they aren’t very usable if we can’t see! Consider some of the solutions we discussed above, and adding Clarity to your daily supplements. You thank us the next time a huge project at work rolls around, and your eyes are in top shape, ready for the hours you’ll be glued to the computer screen.