5 Tips for Preventing Digital Eye Strain
Eyes Tired due to gadgets is caused by straining the eyeball muscles to read text and images on the gadged screen continuously. You have never felt tired eyes due to gadgets, right? How many hours do you spend each day staring at the screens of gadgets such as laptops and smartphones? In an era of advanced technology like now, doing activities with gadgets for a long time is really common. It’s hard not to stare at the screen of their daily gadgets for every office worker,student, and freelancer. The activity of staring at this screen can cause stiff neck and eye fatigue due to being gadged and dry. In the short term, these disorders do not have serious consequences. However, if allowed to continue, you have the potential to experience more serious problems, such as pink eye disease.
Computer Vision Syndrome.
In mid-March 2020, many government and private agencies have started implementing the work from home method. Where this policy was carried out because of the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19). Many people are required to spend more time at home to carry out Physical Distancing activities or maintain social distancing, so that indirectly there is an increase in time on gadget screens, such as laptops and smartphones, during working hours and free time. Unfortunately, long screen time can cause Digital Eye Strain, also known as Computer Vision Syndrome.
Digital Eye Strain.
Eye fatigue caused by being gadgets is caused by the tension in the eyeball muscles to read text and images on the screen continuously, as well as a decrease in the frequency of eye blinking. Eye focused on a screen tend to blink ½ to 1/3 slower than normal blinking rate. Common symptoms of Digital Eye Strain include headaches, dry eyes, glare, blurred or shaded vision, and pain in the neck, shoulders and back. Here are some tips for better on screen gadget activities, so that they can help reduce or even prevent Digital Eye Strain.
Follow the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, take your eyes a break from the screen and focus on something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
Proper screen distance and placement: Your screen should be about 25 inches (or an arm’s length) from your eyes and 15-20 degrees below your eye level.
Set lighting: There are two types of lighting that you need to adjust. For room lighting, you need to set the light in the room neither too bright nor too dark. Then, you also need to adjust the lighting level of the gadget screen so that it is not too bright because it can make your eyes tried quickly. You can attach an anti-glare screen to the monitor to reduce light reflection.
Adjust Contrast: You need to adjust the contrast on the monitor screen. The comfort level of screen contrast varies from person to person, but try not to be too high. If possible, also adjust the color temperature on the screen because it affects the spectrum of light emitted by the screen.
Keep your eyes moisturised: Remembering to blink regularly, and the use eye drops to help prevent your eyes from becoming to dry.
These are some ways to deal with tired eyes that you can do everyday. Apart from doing the tips above, don’t forget to get enough sleep and consume healthy foods to maintain eye health, as well as evaluate your eye health condition with a control to an eye specialist regularly, at least once per year.
Reviewed: dr. Azrina Noor, SpM
Source: 5 Tips for Preventing Digital Eye Strain
