Is Staring At Screens All Day Making Your Eyes Feel Tired?

The majority of the population spends a vast portion of our workday staring at a computer screen, tablet, or mobile phone. Then when you leave work, it’s time to catch up on personal emails, texts, social media, and web searching. Just talking about this makes my eyes burn.

How many hours a day do you think you spend in front of a digital device? Believe it or not, most of us spend between 6 – 9 hours of continuous-time in front of a computer screen or mobile device. After 2 hours of staring at that device, your eyes become strained and can start to bother you, but you still have to continue to work. Keep in mind it doesn’t matter how old you are, two hours and sometimes less can cause your eyes to become sensitive to the screen. Optician Indianapolis Dr. Amy Walden & Associates have some tips diagnosing and easing the strain on your eyes after a long day of work.

Symptoms of Eye Strain:

• Blurred Vision
• Dry Eyes
• Sensitivity to Light
• Headaches
• Neck Pain
• Shoulder Pain
• Double Vision

The good news is there are multiple ways to protect your eyes from the damage this could be causing. It just takes some knowledge and a few easy changes to your normal routine.

4 Easy Changes To Your Workspace To Prevent Eye Strain

Change Your Workspace Around

Although you may not be able to change the lighting in your office, making small tweaks can assist in protecting your eyes.

• Place your monitor at least 24 inches away from your chair/eyes.
• Relocate your monitor so there are no glares coming from the windows or lighting. You want to eliminate the ‘bright spots’ in your office as much as possible.
• Adjust the brightness of the display so it’s the same brightness of your surroundings.
• Adjust the text size and contrast for comfort.

Blink more often

Blinking keeps your eyes moist, avoids irritation, and avoids too much strain on your eyes. Blinking protects the eyes from harmful light and it also acts as a cleansing agent on your eye. Staring at anything, especially at a digital device decreases the amount of blinking that your eye performs. The key is to perform full blinks, which keep our eyes moist and avoids strain and irritation to your eye. Try and blink 10 times in a row every 20 minutes and close your eyes for 10 – 20 seconds.

Obviously, this is something you may forget to do, but it is important to give your eyes a break. Set a reminder on your phone or in your work calendar. Once you perform this a few days throughout the day, eventually this will become second nature. Not only will your eyes feel relieved, but you are also performing them a health benefit in the long run. If your problems persist, contact Optician Indianapolis Dr. Amy Walden & Associates to set up an appointment to detect further problems or have lubricating eye drops prescribed.

Give Your Eyes Frequent Breaks

• Apply the 20/20/20 rule. Look away from your computer at least every 20 minutes and gaze at a distant object (20 feet away) for at least 20 seconds.
• Every 52 minutes take a break, not just from the computer, but from work in general. Step away from your work station, take a walk, take a breather from your work in general. It’s healthy to have a mental break to not only clear your head but also give your eyes a break.

Perform Eye Exercises

• Roll your eyes in all directions, to stretch your eye muscles.
• Another exercise is to look at an object far away and close for 10-15 seconds, and then back at the object. Do this 10 times.

Visit Your Optician Indianapolis If Eye Strain Issues Persist

Hopefully these 4 easy tips will help you improve your eye strain while working. Keep in mind, all these minor tweaks will help the overall health of your eyes now and in the future. If you are still having issues, contact Indianapolis Optician Dr. Amy Walden & Associates for an appointment.