Working, watching, or playing on your computer can mean being glued to the screen for several hours. Unfortunately, the number of times you blink reduces when looking at your computer screen. Less blinking can lead to irritated eyes. What’s more, staring at the computer exposes you to significant levels of blue light, which also contributes to eyestrain. Do your eyes feel dry, sore, tired, itchy, or blurry? Or maybe you’re having a hard time focusing or keeping your eyes open? It could be that your eyes are strained. We’ll share the best tips to prevent eye strain from computers in this post.
1. Give Your Eyes a Break
The effective way to go about this is to practice the 20/20/20 strategy. Make it a routine to move your eyes away from the screen at least every 20 minutes. Then, keep your eyes focused on an object at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds or more.
2. Purchase Blue Light Glasses
Wearing blue-light-blocking glasses is a good way to prevent eye strains when on the computer. Your retina is light-sensitive, but the cornea and lens protect it.
However, these structures only keep UV rays out, not blue light. Blue light glasses are designed with special lens coatings and tints to filter or reduce the blue light waves that reach your retina.
3. Moisten Your Eyes With Artificial Tears
Reduced blinking can mean less tears. This leads to decreased lubrication on the outer surface of your eyes. To compensate for the deficiency, ask your healthcare provider to recommend the best eye drops to use when your eyes start to feel dry.
When experiencing other eye symptoms, there are likely a sign that you need blue light glasses. So, discuss with your doctor to request a prescription for a pair of blue light glasses.
4. Adjust Computer Brightness Settings
When your computer is brighter than the surrounding lighting conditions, it can cause eye strain. The screen brightness needs to be adjusted according to your room brightness.
Adjusting the display brightness level to 60 is usually enough in most office conditions. Ideally, whether at home or office, you’ll want to change your screen brightness to match the brightness of a paper under the lighting in the room.
5. Stay at an Even Distance
It’s highly recommended to keep the display screen approximately 25 inches away from the eyes. Screen level also matters in avoiding eye strain. In line with that, make sure you adjust the screen, keeping the top of the monitor level with your eyes.
Although avoiding using your computer might not be an option, you can still make an effort to protect yourself from eyestrain with these simple-to-implement tips to avoid eye strain on the computer.