New Delhi, August 2, 2017: You might not like tears, but you must still be thankful for what all that they do for your eyes. Tears keep your eyes clean and lubricated and therefore healthy. People who do not produce enough tears suffer from a condition called dry eye, in which not enough moisture is produced to lubricate the surface of the eyeball, leading to pain, itching and blurred vision. According to a new report, people who happen to spend 7 or more hours in front of the screen experience similar symptoms.
All these symptoms that one experiences as a consequence of sitting for long hours in front of the screen, fall under the category of Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS). It isn't one problem but includes a whole range of eye related problems.
Staring at computer/ mobile screens would not permanently damage your eyes, but it would make you suffer the condition where your eyes would be able to focus well only on close objects, whereas more distant objects would appear blurred. If a little awareness could save your eyes, there's no logic in choosing ignorance.
Mission No Glare: Always make sure that there isn't too much indoor light since too much light competing with the light of the device can create glare on the screen. One can also use an anti-glare screen, or add an anti-reflective coating to their glasses. Anti reflective coating helps in reducing the glare by minimizing the amount of light reflected from the lenses of the eyeglass.
Adjust the screen display: The perk of adjusting the screen display by increasing the contrast, so that the brightness feels comfortable is underestimated. A cooler, gray background is always better than a bright white background. Eye strain is often the result of excessively bright light around the screen if a little adjustment can help, then why not?
Blink often: Staring at screens make us blink less frequently and we tend to open our eyes wider than we do when performing other tasks, which results in faster tear evaporation, giving way to dry eye. An average person's blink rate is about 15-20 times per minute, which decreases up to half when the eyes are fixated on some screen. The easiest way to reduce dry eye problem is by blinking often, consciously and voluntarily.
Regular breaks: Your computer and mobile devices aren't going anywhere. An email can wait and you're not going to get the most important call of your life in the very time you decide to take a pause. These reasons are convincing enough to make you stop your work for a while and go out and have a coffee instead. Who chooses pain and headache over coffee?
The 20-20-20 rule: An extension of 'Regular breaks' is a systematic system known as the 20-20-20 rule, where one takes regular breaks every 20 minutes or so, and which when implemented can work wonders. This would provide your eyes the much-needed rest and prevent fatigue and strain causing headache and blurred vision. Even closing your eyes for a bit, every 20 minutes, can provide them the much-needed relaxation.
Keep screens away from the bed: Almost all digital screens are backlit and emit blue light, or high-energy visible (HEV) light wavelengths, which are believed to cause irritation in the eyes. Blue light also suppresses melatonin, the sleep hormone, causing an artificial feeling of wakefulness. Fluctuations in the level of melatonin influence our desire to stay awake, making it important to keep the screens away from the bed.
Regular checkups: There's no alternative to this one. People with myopia, or nearsightedness, and other vision issues like hyperopia, astigmatism, and presbyopia are at increased risk, making checkups for them an unavoidable option, however, it is important for everybody to stay updated with their eye status, in order to ensure healthy vision.
-by Samiksha Goel of NewsGram. Twitter @goel_samiksha