Can you imagine holding a four-pound dumbbell for eight hours? That's what you
are subjecting your eyes to every day. Looking constantly at the computer screen
for long hours can fatigue your eye muscles. Eyestrain is a common complaint of
office workers. Visual problems, such as eyestrain, eye soreness, eye irritation,
sensitivity to light, nearsightedness, suppressed vision in one eye, poor eye
teaming blurred vision, and dry, itching, or burning eyes are related to sustained
use of the computer.
This increased amount of visual tasks also causes body fatigue, headaches and
reduced workplace productivity resulting in a stalled career. Now there are
indications that heavy usage puts computer users at risk for glaucoma.
Reasons for Eye Stress
1. Increased number and complexity of eye movements and focusing skills, which
are required.
2. Improper lighting, glare and distracting reflections.
3. Poor positioning of the screen, glare from the screen, screen flicker rate,
4. Long hours of computer usage.
Most of these problems can be decreased through various methods such as proper
working conditions, correct posture, antiglare filters, anti-glare screens,
eye exercises, nutritional supplementation and timely eye check-ups.
Here's how to keep your orbs in fighting fit condition.
Eye exercises. You can reduce eyestrain by taking visual breaks. Get in the
habit of looking away from your primary focus- whether it's the computer or
a file. Every 45 minutes, avert your gaze, focus on something out the window
or across the office, then focus on a close-up object, such as one of your fingernails
or your watch and then lightly cup your eyes with your palms, and relax for
sixty seconds. Other eye exercises include rolling or blinking the eyes, or
squeezing them shut for a few seconds.
Take a short break, 10-15 minutes every 2 hours, to relax your eyes and body.
Sit Back: Move about 25-28 inches away from the monitor. As the space
between your eyes and the computer screen increases, the amount of fatigue on
your focusing muscles decreases. The computer screen should be slightly below
eye level.
Illumination: The workstation lighting should provide a 10/3 ratio: screen
characters should be ten times brighter than the screen background; room illumination
should be three times brighter than the screen background. You should adjust
the screen brightness and contrast to your own comfort levels. You can eliminate
glare and screen reflections by moving or tilting the computer.
Physical Comforts: Chairs should provide proper back support and be adjustable.
Adjust your keyboard height such that your wrists and lower arms are parallel
to the floor. Adjust the chair height so your feet are flat on the floor with
thighs parallel to the floor. If you can prop your feet up on a footstool, that
can be even better.
In recent times, nearly all our work and much of our recreation have shifted
the focus of our vision to arm's length. Most of the time we are squinting into
something...be it computer, mobiles, TV screen, video games, calculators, watches,
books...
Our eyes were not really meant only for short distance vision. Hence, to rectify
this in our daily lives, we need to take care of our eyes.
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