Vision Correction
Nowadays, a lot of our day is spent on screens. But, our eyes were not designed to do this.
Common issues with extended screen use include eye strain, pain, burning, dryness, redness, headaches, double vision, blurry vision, and more.
Here are some general guidelines:
Blink! This may sound silly but usually we blink 11 or 12 times a minute but when we look at a screen we only blink 4 or 5 times a minute. This means we are not refreshing our focus and not replenishing our tear film.
Take breaks! The general rule is for every 25 minutes of screen time, you should take a 5 minute break to look far away.
Glasses: Your optometrist may recommend a separate pair of computer glasses. We always recommend an anti-reflective coating on any type of glasses.
Artificial tears: Using drops before, during, and/or after screen time can help stabilize your tear film mentioned above. Brands we recommend are Refresh, Systane, Theratears, Blink or Retaine.
What about blue light blocking glasses?
Blue light from screens mimics sunlight but a very small fraction of intensity.
Blue light helps regulate our sleep-wake cycles.
When looking at screens later in the afternoon, your brain delays the production of the sleepy time chemicals and this can affect sleep quality.
When looking at screens for an extended period of time, the eyes can feel fatigued or sore.
Some folks find the blue light blocking glasses help with this as well.
