Mama always said, “Don’t sit too close to the TV or it’ll ruin your eyes!” The new pearls of wisdom should be, “Don’t look at your phone/computer screen too much or it’ll cause digital eye strain!” Digital eye strain is caused by overexposure to high energy, short-wave blue light emissions from digital screens.
According to the American Optometric Association, about 62% of U.S. workers spend five or more hours on their digital devices in the office or working from home every day. It’s a pain in the behind to have to suffer with digital eye strain without relief. Digital eye strain affects more than the eyes. It can cause headaches, general discomfort as well as and other serious issues including sleep disorders and age-related vision problems.
Dr. Hilary Hawthorne is an accomplished optometrist based out of California. She’s a diplomat for the American Board of Optometry since 2011 and is nationally recognized for her work in the field of optometry. She’s the owner of Community Eye Center Optometry in Los Angeles. Dr. Hawthorne offers the following set of tools to cure your eye woes. I know they tell you don’t blink or you’ll miss something, but I’m actually encouraging you to do it this time.
1. Follow the 20-20-20 rule.
Take a 20-second break, every 20 minutes and view something 20 feet away.
2. Keep a distance.
The American Optometric Association recommends sitting a comfortable distance from the computer monitor where you can easily read all text with your head and torso in an upright posture and your back supported by your chair. Generally, the preferred viewing distance is between 20 and 28 inches from the eye to the front surface of the screen.
5 Ways To Ease Digital Eye Strain was originally published on blackdoctor.org
