Tired Eyes at the Computer?
Why do my eyes get tired after staring at a computer screen?
Computer use is a relative new development for us. I remember my first computer as a kid, the Gateway 2000. It was more of a novelty back then, especially when compared to the way computers have been engrained in our lives today. The question is: are our eyes really designed to stare at computers for hours upon hours? And the answer is probably not.
First, let’s talk about what’s actually happening with our eyes when we look at a screen. The first muscle movement that happens is both of our eyes have to turn slightly inwards. Our eyes converge on the computer screen that is about 18 inches from our face. This converging is a muscle movement we have to not only initiate but sustain. I like to tell my patients its like lifting a two-pound weight. Its pretty easy to do on demand in the beginning, but if you lifted that two-pound weight all day, your arms are probably going to start to hurt!
The second muscle movement is the ciliary muscle inside your eye has the job of flexing the crystalline lens inside your eye to change the focal point of your eye from far away to up close. Again we have a sustained muscle movement! This particular muscle movement gets more difficult with age since the lens inside your eye gets thicker and less flexible over time (those over 40 are all to familiar with the difficulties of focusing on their phones). These are the basic mechanics we all have to do when looking at the computer and completely ignores any uncorrected prescription you might have. And any small uncorrected prescription only adds more strain into the equation. Thats why I find myself prescribing more and more small prescription “computer glasses”. Its not the blue light that is straining your eyes, it’s the muscle movements and uncorrected prescription!
The final piece to to this puzzle is blink rate! When we stare at computers we are literally staring! We are so focused on our work that we blink way less! When we blink less are tears that protect our eyes are not getting replenished so they evaporate away leaving our eye exposed for longer periods of time. As a result our eyes start to dry out and get red and irritated and sometimes even burn! So I always recommend to my patients who spend hours on the computer to put a moisturizing eye drop next to your computer and put a drop in every few hours.
In summary: computers are like really long gym sessions for our eyes but unfortunately our eye muscles don’t bulk up like our arms and legs so it never really gets easier. Even so, we can do a few things to make our eyes happier.
1. Make sure your eyes are perfectly corrected, even if it’s just a small prescription. This will go a long way in reducing eye strain.
2. Take frequent breaks! Look away from the screen and look far away for 20-30 sec every 20-30 min.
3. Moisturize those eyes to fend off dry eye!
Schedule your appointment at Cornerstone Eye Care and we’ll happily go over everything with you and put your eyes in the best position to conquer the daily computer use demands!
