Computer Vision Syndrome

Dr. Lang is very close to my face and is shining a bright light into my pupils. His face is so close to mine I can feel each breath on my cheek. I’m beginning to wonder if he should be holding a candle and asking me to dinner. He begins to make noises in the back of his throat…hmmmm. I think to myself, it’s generally not good news when your eye doctor makes unintelligible noises. He sits back onto his chair, and I for one am grateful to have my personal space back and hopeful that the dancing lights will soon dissipate.

“Stephen, he says, your eyes are extremely strained, have you been wearing your glasses?”

“Yes.” I say, “I have been wearing my glasses…I think that the strain could be caused by the fact that I spend 14-16 hours a day in front of a computer.”

“That’s not good,” responded Dr, Lang.

“Yes.” I know but my computer just got over a really bad relationship and well…it just needs some companionship.”

Dr. Lang laughed. “Have you heard of a condition called Computer Vision Syndrome? You can do permanent damage to your eyes”?

Now Dr. Lang had my attention. “I’m going to give you 10 basic steps that you can follow that will help you with this problem.”

I leaned forward, “I’m all ears”.

Over 125 million adult Americans suffer from computer eyestrain. Nearly 54 million children use computers daily. Excessive computer use by children can have a major impact on their vision development. It is extremely important to make some of the changes listed below, and to add a few of the exercises explained in the eye workout section into your daily routine.

What are some of the main reasons for eyestrain?

Window and light glare. Believe it or not, it is important where you place your computer in your office. Windows should be on either side of your computer, not directly in front or behind your computer.

Office lighting. Sunlight and glare off of furniture and walls. You may want to consider attatching an antiglare screen to your monitor. You can also have an anti-reflective coating applied to your glasses this will prevent glare and reflections on the backside of your lenses from reaching your eyes.

Not blinking. Your eyes need moisture constantly to function properly. Blinking is one of the main ways that we keep our eyes moist.

Continually staring at the screen without looking away. This is absolutely horrible for your eyes. Make sure you take small breaks to stare at objects far away and close-up. This gives your eye muscles a chance to recover from the stress of trying to focus on the computer screen.
Reading large amounts of text. If you have a large amount of text to read, print it. Our eyes are much better equipped to read from a printed page than a monitor.

What are some of the things I can do to protect my eyes?

Try to match the brightness of your environment with that of your computer screen. Also, adjust the monitor to make sure the contrast between the screen background and the on-screen characters is high. And make sure the text size and color are optimized for the most comfort.
Keep your eyes moist by blinking more often and using rewetting drops. People blink 5 times less than normal when working on a computer. Make sure you use drops such as artificial tears, and not lubricating drops. Drops that claim to “get the red out” are generally vasoconstrictors that reduce the size of blood vessels in your eyes, but they are not necessarily formulated to help with dryness or irritation.

Try to take more breaks more often. If possible, try to take a 5-10 minute break every hour.
If you type lots of documents, make sure that you are not constantly looking up from the document to your screen. Find a “copy stand” that can hold your documentation level with your monitor.

What are some exercises I can do for my eyes?

Every thirty minutes blink 10 times by closing your eyes as if falling asleep (very slowly) this will help you rewet your eyes. Make sure you are alone when you do this as it could draw strange stares from curious onlookers.

Look away from your computer screen every thirty minutes and focus on something far away for 5-10 seconds

Or look far away for 5-10 seconds, then look at something close for 5-10 seconds, do this a few times.


What are some of the symptoms?

Headaches
Loss of focus
Burning tired eyes
Double blurred vision
Neck and shoulder pains

What causes computer vision syndrome?

If you answered diminished edges you get a cup of cocoa. When you look at a piece of paper, the letters on the page are usually dense characters with well-defined edges. A normal eye has no problem focusing and reading printed text. Just the opposite is true with characters on a computer screen. Characters on a computer screen do not have the contrast and well-defined edges. Characters on a computer screen are brightest at the center and diminish in intensity toward their edges. This causes our eyes to constantly refocus. This constant flexing of the eye’s focusing muscles creates fatigue and burning.

Computer Eyeglasses to the rescue

If you are suffering from chronic eye fatigue, blurred vision and dry eyes, computer eyeglasses may help. Computer eyeglasses are special glasses designed to help you properly focus when looking at your computer monitor. Most reading glasses are configured for distances of 16-21 inches while computer glasses are designed for 18-28 inches, this is the most common distance users sit from their computer monitors.

Computer glasses also help eliminate the constant refocusing effort that your eyes go through when viewing the screen. Believe it or not, this constant refocusing is extremely strenuous and not only does it lead to eye problems, it also causes loss in productivity and accuracy.

Next time you have an eye exam, ask your doctor about computer glasses. Your eyes will get worse if you continue to stress the eye muscles and do not wear prescription eyeglasses.