Your eyes are very important. Many people don't realise just how valuable their vision is until it starts to fail. I was one of these people. I didn't give a second thought to my eyes or keeping them healthy. However, one day, I noticed that I couldn't see as clearly as I used to. I struggle to read the small print on paperwork and sometimes I would find that my vision would become unfocused. I visited the optometrist, and he assessed my eyes. I've now been prescribed contact lenses which really help me. I hope the articles I have posted here help you.
Plenty of people across the world now spend most of their working life sitting in front of a computer. Unfortunately, that means many are also starting to suffer from computer eye strain. You see, using a computer is a relatively repetitive task for your eyes – they need to constantly scan back and forth in the same way. Additionally, computer screens give off light and reflect glare, which puts you eyes under added strain.
Luckily enough, computer eye strain isn't serious. If you make a few changes, you should be just fine, and any long-term damage is extremely unlikely. However, it still helps to catch it early so you can minimize discomfort. With that in mind, here are just five common signs of computer eye strain.
1. Tiredness and Soreness
In many ways, computer eye strain is a repetitive use injury. When you're reading from a computer screen all day, you're putting your eyes under quite a lot of strain. As such, one of the most common symptoms of computer eye strain is tiredness and soreness. You may feel discomfort in the muscles around your eyes, and it may get increasingly hard to keep them fully open.
2. Blurred Vision
As computer eye strain gets worse, it becomes much harder for your eyes to stay properly focused. If you start to notice images and text becoming slightly blurry after you've been working at your computer for some time, but then find the problem going away once you get away from the screen, computer eye strain is probably the cause.
3. Posture Problems
When your vision starts to suffer due to computer eye strain, you'll start to move your eyes closer to the screen to compensate. You probably won't even be aware you're doing it, but you might catch yourself sitting with poor posture or feel stiffness and discomfort in your neck, back or shoulders.
4. Dry or Watery Eyes
Computer screens are backlit, so staring at yours all day can be somewhat like staring at a very low-wattage light bulb. That can dry out your eyes, so you might find them feeling raw around the edges after extended computer periods. This can lead to wateriness – it usually lasts for a couple of seconds, then your eyes will start to feel dry again.
5. Light Sensitivity
Finally, you may notice all the problems mentioned above becoming worse when you're somewhere well-lit. Many people notice this when driving since their eyes are hit by plenty of natural light while they need to pay attention to what's going on around them.
If you think you may be suffering from computer eye strain, talk to an optometrist in your area.
Share20 December 2018
