What is Computer Vision Syndrome?
If you wear glasses and also stare at a computer screen for the majority of your day, you may have experienced different eye strain symptoms. What you may not know is there is something called computer vision syndrome, which causes harm to a person’s eyes from excessive computer use. While a lot of what we do nowadays is online, there are ways to prevent this syndrome and eye damage.
What is The Computer Vision Syndrome?
Computer vision syndrome is also referred to as digital eye strain. The syndrome describes a group of eye or vision-related problems that result from prolonged use of a computer, cell phone, tablet, e-reader, or any other digital device.
Many people will experience eye discomfort or blurred vision when viewing digital screens for extended periods of time. The discomfort will worsen the longer a person stares at a screen.
The average worker spends seven hours a day behind the computer screen either at home or in an office. For most, computer use is a necessary tool at work, so it’s important to know different ways to protect your eyes while you still completing your tasks at work.
Symptoms of Computer Vision Syndrome
Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) is characterized by a range of symptoms caused by prolonged computer use. These include eye strain, dry eyes, blurred vision, headaches, and neck and shoulder pain. Other signs may include sensitivity to light, difficulty focusing, and decreased productivity. Taking regular breaks, adjusting screen settings, and practising good ergonomics can help alleviate these symptoms and promote healthier eyesight during computer work.
10 Steps For Relief
1. Get a comprehensive eye exam.
- Having a routine comprehensive eye exam is the most important thing you can do.
- Computer users should have an eye exam before they start working on a computer and once a year thereafter.
2. Use proper lighting.
Eye strain often is caused by excessively bright light either from outdoor sunlight coming in through a window or from harsh interior lighting. When you use a computer, your ambient lighting should be about half as bright as that typically found in most offices.
- Eliminate exterior light by closing drapes, shades or blinds.
- Reduce interior lighting by using fewer light bulbs or fluorescent tubes, or use lower intensity bulbs and tubes.
- If possible, position your computer monitor or screen so windows are to the side, instead of in front or behind it.
- If possible, turn off the overhead fluorescent lights in your office and use floor lamps that provide indirect incandescent or halogen lighting instead.
- Try reducing the number of fluorescent tubes installed above your computer workspace if you are bothered by overhead lighting.
3. Minimize glare.
- Consider installing an anti-glare screen on your monitor and, if possible, paint bright white walls a darker colour with a matte finish.
- Again, cover the windows.
- When outside light cannot be reduced, consider using a computer hood.
- If you wear glasses, purchase lenses with anti-reflective (AR) coating. AR coating reduces glare by minimizing the amount of light reflecting off the front and back surfaces of your eyeglass lenses.
4. Upgrade your display.
- If you have not already done so, replace your old tube-style monitor (called a cathode ray tube or CRT) with a flat-panel liquid crystal display (LCD), like those on laptop computers. LCD screens are easier on the eyes and usually have an anti-reflective surface
- If you must use a CRT at work, adjust the display settings to the highest possible refresh rate.
- When choosing a new flat panel display, select a screen with the highest resolution possible. Resolution is related to the “dot pitch” of the display. Generally, displays with a lower dot pitch have sharper images. Choose a display with a dot pitch of .28 mm or smaller.
- For a desktop computer, select a display that has a diagonal screen size of at least 19 inches.
5. Adjust your computer display settings.
Brightness. Adjust the brightness of the display so it’s approximately the same as the brightness of your surrounding workstation. As a test, look at the white background of this Web page. If it looks like a light source, it’s too bright. If it seems dull and gray, it may be too dark.
Text size and contrast. Adjust the text size and contrast for comfort, especially when reading or composing long documents. Usually, black print on a white background is the best combination of comfort.
Colour temperature. This is a technical term used to describe the spectrum of visible light emitted by a colour display. Blue light is short-wavelength visible light that is associated with more eye strain than longer-wavelength hues, such as orange and red. Reducing the colour temperature of your display lowers the amount of blue light emitted by a colour display for better long-term viewing comfort.
Text Size and Color on Your Digital Screen
The size of the display text should be three times the smallest size that you can read from your normal viewing position.
The best colour combination for your eyes is black text on a white background, though other dark-on-light combinations also work well.
6. Blink more often.
- If you experience dry eye symptoms, ask your eye doctor about artificial tears for use during the day.
- To reduce your risk of dry eyes during computer use, try this exercise: Every 20 minutes, blink 10 times by closing your eyes as if falling asleep (very slowly). This will help rewet your eyes.
7. Exercise your eyes.
- To reduce your risk of tiring your eyes by constantly focusing on your screen, look away from your computer at least every 20 minutes and gaze at a distant object (at least 20 feet away) for at least 20 seconds. Some eye doctors call this the “20-20-20 rule”. Looking far away relaxes the focusing muscle inside the eye to reduce fatigue.
- Another exercise is to look far away at an object for 10-15 seconds, then gaze at something up close for 10-15 seconds. Then look back at the distant object. Do this 10 times.
8. Take frequent breaks.
- During your computer breaks, stand up, move about and stretch your arms, legs, back, neck and shoulders to reduce tension and muscle fatigue.
9. Modify your workstation.
- Place written pages on a copy stand adjacent to the monitor.
- Light the copy stand properly.
- You may want to use a desk lamp, but make sure it doesn’t shine into your eyes or onto your computer screen.
- Improper posture during computer work also contributes to computer vision syndrome. Adjust your workstation and chair to the correct height.
- Purchase ergonomic furniture to enable you to position your computer screen 20 to 24 inches from your eyes. The center of your screen should be about 10 to 15 degrees below your eyes for comfortable positioning of your head and neck.
10. Consider computer eyewear.
- Modify your eyeglasses prescription to create customized computer glasses.
- Computer glasses also are a good choice if you wear bifocals or progressive lenses because these lenses generally are not optimal for the distance to your computer screen.
- Consider photochromic lenses or lightly tinted lenses for computer eyewear to reduce your exposure to potentially harmful blue light emitted by digital devices.
- Ask your optician for details.
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