Five Tips to Avoid Computer Eye Strain

Do you suffer from headaches, blurred vision, and dry, burning eyes at the end of the day? If so, you are probably suffering from eyestrain. Spending the workday looking at a video terminal or laptop computer has turned computer eyestrain into a national epidemic.

Eye muscles, like any other muscle, needs to be used on a regular basis to perform at optimum levels. When you only focus on close objects, like a computer screen, the muscles that are used to focus on medium and far objects tend to get lazy. Once the workday is over, and we want to see what is happening beyond the computer screen, these muscles are slow to respond. This results in blurry vision, headaches, and a variety of other vision problems.

Here are five tips you can start using right now to prevent computer eyestrain.

1. Make sure your workspace is well lit. Don't have bright lights glaring from surfaces in your office, and be sure you have enough light to let you see clearly.
2. Try to arrange your workspace so that you can periodically look beyond the computer screen to the opposite side of the room.
3. Make sure that your office lights don't glare directly onto the computer screen. You shouldn't have to wear sunglasses to see the screen.
4. Studies have shown that when people are working on the computer, they blink less often, and tend to keep their eyes open a bit wider that usual. This promotes dry eyes, and results in gritty sensations in the eye. Try to remember to blink often to keep your eyes well hydrated.
5. Every half an hour, give your eyes a break, and exercise them. There are many great eye exercises available to help you avoid computer eyestrain, and protect and strengthen your vision. Here is one you can try, although maybe not at the office. Get a softball or soccer ball, and write letters and numbers of various sizes on it. Hang it from the ceiling on a string, making sure that the surrounding area is clear. Give the ball a push in any direction. As it swings, call out the letters and numbers that you see. This exercise lets you use all of your eye muscles, and helps them to work together in a coordinated way.

Try these simple tips for a week, and you will find relief from computer eyestrain you have been suffering from.