Eye Strain Symptoms Include:
- Sore, tired, burning or itching eyes
- Watery eyes
- Dry eyes
- Blurred or double vision
- Increased sensitivity to light
- Difficulty focusing
If you can’t tolerate these symptoms at home–like by making the adjustments below–then you should head to the doctor, especially in the case of prolonged eye discomfort, changes in your vision, or double vision.
What Can You Do About It
The Vision Council report claims that the solution to eye strain is easy to enact: All you have to do is limit the time you spend in front of screens. But if your job tethers you to a desk–even a standing desk–you still are going to be dealing with screens all day. The key, then, is a mindfulness about the way you interact with the screens in your life: Just like mindlessly having your email open all day can slowly fill your body with tension, never looking away fills your eyes with tension.
PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR BODY:
Sudden eye, neck, or shoulder pain is a warning that eye strain may be coming on.
REDUCE GLARE:
Turn down your monitor brightness. Less work for your eyes.
CLEAN THE SCREEN:
DIM YOUR LIGHTING
The more competing light in the room, the harder your eyes have to work.
ATTEND TO YOUR ERGONOMICS:
Having the right distance between your eyes and your screen makes things less awful.
ADJUST YOUR SCREEN:
Optimal case is directly in front of your face, just below eye level.
GROW YOUR FONTS:
Bigger the text size, lesser the eyeball labor.
REMEMBER TO BLINK:
Sometimes people’s eyes dry out because they forget to blink. Really.
USE THE 20-20-20 RULE:
Every 20 minutes, take 20 seconds to look at something 20 feet away.