Dr. Kris’ Blog

One of the many questions I ask during my exam is how often do you use the computer on a day to day basis. Many replies are greater than 4 hours of use due to work or school.

Spending many hours looking at a computer screen can cause a type of eyestrain called Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS). Symptoms include sore, dry, burning or itchy eyes, headaches, back and neck soreness, blurred vision and increased sensitivity to light. A person experiencing CVS may also have trouble shifting their focus between the computer screen and other objects in the room far away or reading up close.

I give my patients helpful hints on how to prevent this type of eye strain.

1) Make sure your screen is at or below eye level so that your eyes aren’t forced to look upward continuously.

2) It’s also good to have a well lit room. According to the Mayo Clinic, “keeping the room softly lit may be more comfortable than having a high contrast between the screen and the surrounding environment.”

3) The most important thing to remember is not to sit too close to the screen. The Mayo Clinic suggests having your face 20 inches from the screen at the least.

4) If you have to squint to read the screen, consider increasing the size of your font or zooming in on the web page.

5) Dryness can cause a lot of the discomfort associated with CVS, so try to remember to blink. I tell my patients to put a post-it note on top of the monitor with the words “BLINK” to help remind them to blink.

6) Practice the 20-20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes of computer use, look at an object 20 feet away,  for at least 20 seconds. This allows the muscles controlling your eyes to relax for a short time.

7) Make sure to have an updated glasses or contact lenses prescription to avoid strain due to blurry vision.

— Dr. Patel

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