How many of you have jobs that put you in front of a computer for hours a day? I hear every day from patients that their eyes just don’t feel good after a work-day. People’s eyes are falling victim to modern times. Spending 8+ hours a day indoors working on a computer screen presents a lot of problems for the eyes. In recent years this has been called Computer Vision Syndrome, or CVS.
CVS is a term to describe the discomfort, strain, and fatigue associated with prolonged use of a computer screen. Common symptoms include:
- dry eyes
- eye strain
- headaches
- shoulder and neck pain
- blurry vision worse at distance
- double vision
In CVS dry eye is caused a reduction of your blink rate. Studies have shown that a person blinks half as much when using a computer! That adds up over the course of the day, and can result in dry/irritated eyes.
How can you reduce CVS symptoms?
- A remedy to keep in mind is the 20-20-20 rule. This is to make sure to look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes.
- For many people a pair of eye glasses that are tailored specifically for you work station can help relieve a lot of the symptoms of CVS.
- Keep in mind that the optimal working-distance from your computer (at least for your eyes!) is just over an arm’s length from the monitor.
If your eyes are bringing you down at the end of the work-day, please contact our office! Our eye doctors in Nashville and Hendersonville can work with you to get you seeing clearly and comfortably.
