Protecting Your Eyes from Eyestrain

How to Limit Eyestrain

You might be experiencing eye strain if, at the end of the day, your eyes burn, water, or twitch. It's almost guaranteed if you have headaches, blurred vision, or find yourself squinting after a few hours in front of the computer screen or television.

What is Eyestrain?

Should you be concerned if your eyes feel tired and dry after a few hours of Internet surfing? Probably not. Eyestrain is uncomfortable. And it might be a sign of eye problems. But eyestrain rarely causes eye damage.

According to the Sight and Hearing Association, your eyes aren't really being strained. Instead, it's the muscles that are used for eye movement and focus that grow weary from too much use in adverse conditions. When the muscles tense or are overworked, you can experience:

• Sore or tired eyes
• Itchy or burning eyes
• Dry or scratchy eyes
• Headaches
• Double or blurred vision
• Difficulty focusing
• Frequently losing your place when switching between documents or a distance object and close-up page or screen
• Halo-affect or after-image
• Light sensitivity

Prevention

Two common causes of eyestrain are glare and focusing without a break. Any activity that taxes your eyes for a prolonged period of time can cause eyestrain – whether it's a close-up activity like sewing or watching an entire football game through binoculars. Computer use is the most common cause for eyestrain. An estimated 50 million Americans experience eyestrain caused by computer use.

Computer monitors:

Computer monitors should be positioned 18 to 30 inches from your eyes, and slightly lower than your line of sight. Dim the lights as you would for television viewing. Avoid the use of overhead lights. Position the monitor so neither you nor the screen faces a window or other light source. Adjust the brightness and contrast on your screen so it's restful to your eyes. Do the same with computer screen color options. Use document holders that allow you to keep documents at the same viewing distance and height as the computer screen. Follow the 20/20/20 vision break rule.

Keep those eyes safe!