Between our jobs and our personal lives, we spend most of our days with a screen right in front of our eyes. It doesn’t matter if the screen belongs to a computer, smartphone, or TV, the result is still the same: strained and dry eyeballs. According to a survey from 2016, most adults spend over nine hours a day looking at a screen.
Popular Science reports that digital screens are particularly taxing on our eyes, much more than reading from books and printed pages. According to the American Optometric Association, letters on a computer or smartphone are not “as precise or sharply defined” as the ones on a printed page, demanding more work from our eyes.
Despite the fact that we’re obsessed with screens and should, at some point, stop, the side effects of this problem are reversible. Check our 4 ways that can improve your eye health:
20-20-20 rule
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This rule is pretty simple, demanding that every 20 minutes you shift your eyes towards an object that’s 20 feet away, looking at it for over 20 seconds. This will allow your gaze to relax and your eyes to refocus. You can also use this moment to apply some eye drops or look out your window.
Reduce screen brightness
Reduce the brightness on your smartphone and laptop until you can look at it without squinting. In order to make the most out of this, you can purchase an anti glare screen protector or move your monitor around so that there’s less light impacting it.
Use E-readers
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E-readers such as the Nook and the Kindle are much gentler on your eyes than digital screens. These devices produce much less visual fatigue and are similar to reading from a printed page.
Keep your glasses prescriptions up to date
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If you use glasses, it’s important to help your eyes as much as possible and take care of them by keeping your prescription up to date. The more you strain your eyes, the more likely it is for problems to get worse, especially if you are affected by myopia or astigmatism.
Upgrade your display
New versions of LCD screens with high resolutions are better on your eyes than older models, which make your eyes work harder. It also helps if your display is relatively large, over 19 inches diagonally, giving your eyes more room to move around and relax.
