How to deal with screen fatigue?

Sep 18, 2011 in Eye Care

How to deal with screen fatigue?

Our Optometrists at Leightons Opticians meet several patients everyday complaining about “screen fatigue” which is a result of several hours we all spend each day staring at our computer screens. Approximately 90% of all computer users suffer from screen fatigue resulting into sore, itchy & tired eyes, severe headaches, and very often blurred vision. While there is not much we can do about reducing the number of hours we all spend gazing the computer screens, there are definitely some do’s & don’ts that will reduce the harm caused to a great extent.

For any of you, who can relate to the above mentioned symptoms, it is always good to Book your Eye Test and get your Opticians advice, but below is a list of some very simple but very important things you can do to minimize the risk of suffering visual distress.

1) Adjusting the seating is one of the most important things you can do to protect your eye sight from screen fatigue. Always adjust your seating such that you are neither too far, nor too close to your computer screen. As a rule of thumb, sitting at a arm’s length distance from your screen produces the best results.

2) Adjust the screen brightness so that it’s neither too bright nor too dim for you to strain your eyes. Setting the font size to 12 points or more might help.

3) It is surprising how many of us ignore ensuring that the room has the correct lighting. It is always great to have enough natural lighting at the same time avoiding any glare or reflection on the screen.

4) Most of us spend majority of our working hours in front of a computer, and therefore it is very important to take regular breaks, every half hour or so. Work can be balanced such that we spend some time on other manual work after every hour or so spent on the computer.

5) It is very important to have the desk positioned such that you have enough space behind the computer screen to be able to look up at regular intervals and focus on something at a distance.

6) As trivial as it might sound, please blink regularly while working on your computer. Our blink rate substantially drops while working on a screen, being conscious about this is very critical as blinking helps provide moisture to the eye by irrigation using tears and a lubricant the eyes secrete. If you use Contact Lenses this is even more important than usual.

While all these measures would definitely help maintaining a healthy eye sight & vision, we still would highly recommend getting your eye tests done very regularly to avoid any further damage.

If you have any questions related to your eye care, would like to speak to one of our qualified Optometrists, or would like to Book your Appointment for an Eye Test, you can click here.