Many of us spend our time at work in front of screens and computers, only to return home to watch television and movies on screens as well. As a result, we complain to others that a “computer screen is hurting my eyes”, we’re constantly straining our eyes and it’s quite common to develop blurry vision and sore eyes. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to minimize the strain on your eyes, protecting your eyesight and preventing damage to your eyes.
Frequent Breaks
This is the simplest and most effective way to decrease eye strain while using electronics. All you have to do is follow the “20-20-20″ rule. Every 20 minutes, focus on something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. This should immediately refresh your eyes and allow the muscles to relax. Frequent breaks will keep you feeling a lot better at the end of the day, so just remember “20-20-20!”
Eye Drops
When people use the computer, they actually end up blinking about 60% less than normal, leading to dry and strained eyes. You may want to invest some eye drops to help refresh your eyes whenever they feel strained, or simply remember to blink more.
Computer Settings
Your computer monitor settings may also have a significant effect on your eye strain. On the older CRT monitors, you need to make sure that your screen refresh rate is higher than 60Hz, or else you risk severe eye strain. You may also want to decrease the screen resolution so that everything appears bigger; you won’t need to squint or strain to find the small icons. Lastly, you can always use filters that help decrease eye strain such as F.lux (http://stereopsis.com/flux/). F.lux changes the color your computer display based on the time of day, so if you’re up late working, it tones it down to a more natural tone to decrease eye strain.
Remember that it’s easy to prevent eye strain; make sure to take breaks, blink often, and change your computer settings to protect your eyes.
