08 Jul 5 SHOCKING Ways Looking at a Computer Screen Affects Your Eyes
It’s around 1’o clock in the night and you’re still playing your favorite video game on the computer. Tomorrow morning, you’ll have to go to work and spend another 8 full hours on the computer screen. After coming back, you’ll try to relax by scrolling through videos and playing video games.
This is an everyday routine of an average American adult.
As per the report of eMarketer, US adults spent around 7 hours and 50 minutes on desktops and other devices. This is expected to increase beyond 8 hours by the end of 2022.
Apparently, this has been taking a huge toll on their eyes. And the effects of too much screen time are further exaggerated due to the sudden shift in lifestyle, all thanks to the pandemic.
So, what strike does this screen time leave on your body? Does staring at a computer affect your eyes?
If you are looking for answers to these questions, stay with us till the end for some shocking and interesting facts.
Does Staring at a Computer Affect Your Eyes?
More than half of the population uses digital screens today for every small work. Unlike books and papers, computer screens add glares, contrast, and flicker.
All this requires some serious hard work from eye muscles leaving it exhausted. This makes it obvious why people often search for “can looking at computer screen damage your eyes”.
Notably, looking at a computer’s screen for a long duration can have a temporary negative impact on eyesight. For some people, unfortunately, this might also cause permanent eye damage.
Further, if you already have eye issues, working on computer screens creates additional problems.
Moreover, how looking at a computer affects your eyes also depends upon the duration and the way you use it.
If you’re among those who are constantly on their computers and laptops, you are more likely to have eye problems.
Here’s how looking at a screen affects your eyes in the long run.
How Does Looking at a Computer Affect Your Eyes?
Looking at a computer affects your eyes, mainly in two ways:
- Either your eyes are dried out
- Or it’s strained too much
While working, people often blink less and the computers are also not positioned at the right distance and angle, which leads to eye strain and blurry vision.
This also gives rise to too much screen time eyes symptoms. Doctors have named these computer-related vision issues “computer vision syndrome”.
Some of the side effects of staring at a computer for too long are:
- Blurry vision
- Eye strain
- Dry eyes
- Glare from the computer
- Eye damage from blue light
Following is an explanation of all these factors in a little more detail.
#1. Blurry Vision
If you’ve spent more than the required time on the computer playing video games or even working, you must have witnessed temporary blurry vision.
The reason how can too much screen time cause blurry vision is the drying of the moisture from the outer surface of your eyes.
This is also among the most common symptoms of computer vision syndrome.
So, leaving you with a blurry vision is how staring at a computer affects your eyes primarily.
#2. Eye Strain
Eye strain is a repetitive strain injury caused due to insufficient rest of the eyes, incorrect light, and so on.
When you work for too long in front of a computer screen, your eyes have to put extra effort to view nearer things.
The tiny eye muscles change the shape of the eye lens to help focus on tiny things. Thus, the persisting change in shape leaves the eye muscles fatigued.
Further, like any other muscle, when your eye muscle rests at the same position for an extended period, it causes strain on the eyes.
#3. Dry Eyes
Another answer to how does looking at screens affect eyesight is dry eye from excessive use of computers.
Notably, blinking moisturizes your eyes and spreads essential nutrients that smoothen its functionality.
Typically an eye blinks around 15-20 times in a minute. However, that changes while working on computers. Working on screens or computers reduces the blinking of eyes leading to a lack of moisture and thus dry eyes.
As per a study by the University of Health Sciences Fatih Sultan Mehmet Training and Research Hospital, long-term computer usage may cause evaporative-type dry eye disease.
Evaporative-type dry eye disease is the common outcome of a lack of blinking while using computers.
#4. Computer Glare
Another potential reason to limit screen use is computer glare.
Computer glare makes it difficult for the eyes to maintain focus on one thing. This happens when the computer light contrasts greatly with the light of the surrounding.
For instance, watching a movie in a dark room and presenting for long durations which always takes place in dark rooms.
Additionally, the strained eye feeling you get when coming out of a dark movie theatre is the impact of computer glare as well.
To clarify, difficulty in maintaining focus puts unwanted strain on the eyes, leading to computer vision syndrome.
Thus, if you’ve ever wondered—is looking at a screen in the dark bad for your eyes, the answer is yes!
#5. Blue Light Effect
The effect of blue light on the eyes is quite debatable.
Nevertheless, blue lights can certainly induce the risk of eye damage. This, as a result, raises concerns about the use of computers, laptops, and phones.
According to clinical evidence, blue light can damage your eyes permanently.
By penetrating through the lens of the retina, blue lights can cause irreversible retinal photochemical damage.
The study also concludes that long exposure to blue light can also cause visual fatigue and near-sightedness.
That’s how staring at a computer affects your eyes. It leaves you with dry eyes, unclear vision, strained eye muscles, and even permanent retinal damage.
Studies indicate around 50-60% of long-duration computer users develop the symptoms of computer vision syndrome. Moreover, the symptoms and discomfort increase as time passes.
If you are also among such people, luckily, there are some remedies.
How Can I Protect My Eyes from Computer Screen?
If the side effects of staring at a computer screen for too long sound familiar to you, the good news is it can be treated.
Fortunately, there are several ways to reduce the effects of looking at a screen for too long. Some of them are as follows.
#1. Check the Screen Position
Ideally, you should be at least 24-28 inches away from your screen. Also, your computer screen should be 15 to 20 degrees below eye level.
Your habit of sitting too close to the computer screen might be the primary reason behind your degraded eyesight.
#2. Adjust the Lighting
Most of the screen time is spent on office computers and laptops. Hence, it’s important to take note of the lightning in the office.
Too much artificial light increases the glare on your screen. Also, the dim surrounding creates an unnecessary contrast that strains your eyes.
Hence, depending on the setup, you can adjust the curtains and also turn off harsh lights.
#3. Use Computer Glasses
Designed especially for computer work, computer glasses are protective eyewear. These glasses help reduce eye strain because of computer work.
Computer glasses reduce glare and also optimize your eyesight while looking at the screen.
Also, these glasses allow you to focus on your screen in a better way.
It’s a great way to tackle computer vision syndrome symptoms if you spend a lot of time on screen.
#4. Blink Frequently
Most people don’t realize that they even forget to blink while working on their computers.
Well, this causes dryness, and dry and irritated eyes may cause more eye problems.
Hence, blinking frequently is important as it flushes your eyes with naturally therapeutic fluids, keeping them moist.
Notably, it’s recommended to blink 10 times every 20 minutes while working on the computer.
#5. Adjust Screen Brightness
Most electronic screens are now upgraded with vivid screens that show more bright colors.
While it may appear pleasant to your eyes at first, it has downsides in the long term.
Hence, it’s recommended to adjust the screen settings. Turn down the brightness and switch to night mode to prevent eye strain in the long run.
#6. Take a Break
Earlier, people used computers to take a break from monotony. Whereas, today you need to take a break from computer screens.
Taking a break from computer screens throughout the day may not seem productive at first. However, religiously following this small step every day can prevent eye strain and dryness of the eyes.
Try to give your eyes a break of 10 minutes every 1 hour.
These are some of the most common and easy-to-do techniques to reduce the effect of too much screen time.
Moving on, there’s one more very popular rule to reduce eye strain. We are talking about the 20-20-20 rule.
Does the 20-20-20 Rule Work to Prevent Eye Strain from Computer?
Screen time is a big issue these days. However, using the 20-20-20 rule might help prevent strained eyes.
So, what is the 20-20-20 rule for eyes exactly?
As per the rule, for every 20 minutes spent on the screen, you should try looking at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
It’s a great way to take frequent screen breaks and prevent eye strain.
However, the question here is—do the 20-20-20 rule work?
Looking at distant objects after regular intervals helps relax the eye muscles and also prevents dry eyes.
Interestingly, as per the Nepalese Journal of Ophthalmology, looking at far-away objects in-between the work was significantly associated with reduced computer vision syndrome symptoms.
Hence, the 20-20-20 rule actually works.
In fact, it is also recommended by many eye doctors to improve vision and eye health.
No matter how looking at a screen affects your eyes, you can always prevent it by following the above measures.
In case the eye problems continue to exist, wait no more to get your eyes checked.
Before You Turn Off Your Screen!
Eye problems are common among those who spend more than 2 hours on screen, which is almost everyone nowadays.
Further, how looking at a computer affects your eyes depends on how much time you spend along with the conditions around your computer.
Moreover, considering the work culture, there’s no running away from using screens. Thankfully, there are ways to prevent and even minimize its severity in many cases.
Apart from taking frequent breaks and following the 20-20-20 rule, you can also try massaging around your eyes and washing them with cold water to reduce strain.
Not to mention, adjusting screen brightness and position can also help in the long term.
So, if you’re reading this blog too close to the screen, you must start following the tips.
Or if you know someone who spend too much time on their computer, make sure this blog appears on their screen. Have any more thoughts to share? Let’s discuss them in the comments section.
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