People are more attached to their electronic devices than ever before. Even when we’re not sitting in front of a computer screen for work, we spend a lot of time using phones, tablets and other digital devices for a wide variety of everyday tasks.
All this screen time can be hard on your eyes. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to prevent yourself from doing some irreversible damage to your vision. Here are some tips from an optometrist in Lancaster, OH to help you keep your eyes in good condition.
Consider your lighting
Eye strain is often worsened when there’s excessively bright light. If you’re using a computer or other screen, ambient lighting should be half as bright as what you’d otherwise use in your office. It can help if you have a dimmer switch, but otherwise you can turn off a couple lamps, or use lower-intensity bulbs. You can also close some blinds or shades if needed.
Cut down on glare
Glare is one of the issues that can cause the most severe eye strain. Reflections off your screens wear your eyes down faster. Consider installing an anti-glare screen on your display, or purchase protective lenses for your glasses that have an anti-reflective coating. You can also try to arrange your office so your computer will not be positioned in such a way that it reflects light coming in through windows or from lamps.
Use a different display
Are you one of the few people still using an old-style tube monitor? If so, replace your monitor as quickly as possible with a flat panel LED screen. Those old-fashioned computer screens feature a “flickering” sort of sensation that causes eye strain much faster than what you’d experience by using an LED.
If you’re using an LED screen, you can simply adjust your display settings. There are several adjustments you can make. For example, you can change the brightness so it’s about the same level of brightness as your surrounding workstation. You can also adjust the text size and contrast to make reading a bit more comfortable so you don’t have to strain your eyes. This is especially beneficial if you’re writing or reading long documents. Finally, you can change the color temperature—reducing color temperature can help reduce the amount of blue light emanating from your screen, and it’s that blue light that’s the culprit in many cases of eye strain.
Take breaks
Give yourself some screen breaks every so often. Blink, look away from the computer for a minute or two and make sure you stare away into farther distances when taking those breaks as well. Get up and walk around every now and then, too—this will not only give your eyes a break, but also help prevent you from being too sedentary during the work day.
For more tips about preventing eye strain from computers and other digital devices, reach out to Price Family Eye Care Professionals LLC to speak with an experienced optometrist in Lancaster, OH.