Screen Use & Headache, eye strain, watering : Computer Vision Syndrome

So an average person spends about 10 hours a day using smartphones, tablets and computers. These have brought a tremendous change in our daily lives, and have made us more efficient, productive. With the COVID Lockdown, we are all spending far more time on our screens and this is causing a lot of eye problems.

Complaints of watering eyes, blurring of vision, headaches, red eyes, burning. The reasons for these symptoms are many and let’s look at why they occur and their simple remedies, which can be done at the comfort of your home.

What causes these problems?

1. Blinking Less Often

When we look at a screen for a prolonged period of time, we tend to blink less often. Blinking helps moisten the eye surface, spreading the tear film, natural eye lubricating mechanism evenly. With less frequent blinking, as when looking at a screen, the eyes tend to dry up, causing reflex increased watering. The drying up is also responsible for the redness and eye burning we experience.

2. Eye Strain

Another common complaint is, headache and eye strain. Often, this is due to strain on the eye muscles. When we look at a screen at near distance, the muscles inside the eye, change the shape of the lens inside the eye, so we may see near objects clearly. This is called accommodation. The muscles outside the eye, which control eye movements, help bring both the eyes closer, called convergence. When over-worked, with constant near screen use, the eye muscles get fatigued, causing eye strain and headache. In more severe cases, the muscles may undergo spasm, leading to severe headache and blurring of vision.

3. Harmful Blue Light Emission from Screens

Another important area to address when talking of effect of prolonged phone use, is the role of blue light and the use of blue light filter. That’s an extensive discussion in itself - Sleep cycle, and potentially adding to retinal, macular degeneration. Broadly - prolonged exposure to blue light makes it harder to fall asleep. Overall, it is a wise idea to turn on the blue filter option provided in most phones, or download an app which does so.

So this was to explain why we experience what we experience. Now, what do we do about this?

20-20-20 Rule

Well, a simple remedy is to follow what we call the 20-20-20 rule. That is, every 20 minutes of screen use, look away in the distance, say 20 feet, for 20 seconds. Looking away, allows the eye muscles which are making the eyes accommodate and converge to relax. This relieves eye strain and headache. Taking eyes off the screen also helps blink often, naturally lubricating the eyes.

2. Consult with an Eye Specialist Doctor

If you don’t feel comfortable despite these steps, there may be need for further evaluation and eye treatment, by the eye doctor, ophthalmologist. One of the most important things to look for is the need for spectacles. Often using lubricating, artificial tear eye drops gives additional relief. Some cases, where the eye muscles are weak, and convergence is not adequate, we advise eye muscle strengthening exercises.

Eyes are very precious, they are our windows to the world. With good, preventive care, we can enjoy the gift of sight, and do so with comfort.