Eye Spy: 3 Tips for Preserving Your Eye Health in a Digital Age & Why It Matters

Our eyes are one of the most complex organs in the human body— crucial for navigating the world, but screens are costing us our health. From work computers to mindless social media scrolling, most adults spend about 10 - 12 hours in front of screens every day. As we spend more time on our screens, we must prioritize eye health. It may seem minute, but improving your eye health practices can reduce the harm to the rest of our body.

Understanding Eye Strain

How do you feel when you've been staring at your screen too long? Do you notice your eyes getting dry? A dull headache brooding? Does your back feel terrible? Is every light just a little too bright? If you can answer “yes” to any of these questions, you are yet another victim of digital eye strain. While it seems fairly normal, eye strain is not something to take lightly! Our bodies aren't built for hours of uninterrupted screen time. In fact, 65% of adults have experienced eye strain. With screens all around us, it's time to take the necessary steps to protect our eye health. If you don’t know where to start, no worries! We’ve got 3 tips to help.

1. Creating an Eye-Conscious Space

For many, simply avoiding screens is not an option. To maintain eye health, simple modifications can greatly improve your experience. Minor adjustments reduce the amount of stress on your eyes from screens.

• Reducing Blue Light: Screens release a wide spectrum of light. Blue light specifically can mess with your natural sleep patterns and make falling asleep difficult. A quick hop into your device settings to adjust your screen or blue light blocker glasses can reduce the amount of blue light reaching your eyes, reduce eye strain, and improve your sleep.

• Increase the size and contrast: Making words bigger on your screen is nothing to be ashamed of! In fact, a simple zoom-in or increasing screen contrast can make a huge difference in making screen interactions much easier on your eyes.

• Optimizing your Workspace: Making physical adjustments like screen placement, chair height, or screen distance reduces the amount of work your eyes are doing while focusing on the screen. You can even try adding ambient backlighting to set a peaceful mood in the bustle of the workday (while making sure you’re prioritizing your eye health.)

2. Working on Eye Fitness

The health and performance of our eyes depend on multiple factors: sleep, a healthy diet, and rest. Like any other muscle, after an intense workout —- you need to rest to avoid injury. The same goes for our eyes. When we get in front of screens, we tend to plug in and get glued to the screen. For our eye health, these practices can allow our eyes to rest and reset for the next set.

• 20-20-20 Rule: The rule is super simple… For every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. Give your eyes a break from the intense screens.! If you're like me and have no clue how far 20 feet is, just gaze at something outside your screen sphere, maybe even something out the window.

• Blink and Move Your Eyes Around: While we're glued to our screens, our "blink rate" slows down significantly. So make sure to continue blinking and moving your eyes around. Some have recommended putting a note on your screen that says "Blink" as a reminder.

• Hydrate your Eyes: With the reduced blink rate and hyper-screen focus, your eyes can get dry and scratchy. Eye drops and re-wetting drops are great to help soothe dry and itchy eyes. However, if you are using them multiple times daily, you may need to see your eye doctor. Disclaimer: Avoid eye drops that reduce redness, they reduce blood flow to your eyes which can be dangerous.

3. Limiting Screen Time

What else needs to be said? We are all guilty! (Yeah, we’re talking to you…)

Overall, reducing screen time is the best way to maintain eye health. Instead of hopping directly to Instagram after a work day full of screens, maybe give your eyes some time to rest. Take regular breaks and give your eyes time to relax.

By using these tools, you can improve your eye health and take care of yourself while minimizing the effects of screens on your eyes. While it's challenging to maintain eye health in a digital age, your eyes will thank you in the long run.