How Screen Time Affects Your Eyes

Digital eye strain is one of the downsides of our modern world. Use these tips to minimize — or even avoid — eye discomfort.

How many hours a day do you spend looking at your phone, laptop, or tablet? If you are anything like the average American, it’s at least seven hours.

Though we don’t always think about it, our eyes need breaks from all that staring and scrolling. Without these rests, you could develop eye strain. Your eyes might feel tired, burn, itch, or start to water. In a few instances, your vision may get blurry or become sensitive to light.

The good news: You can learn easy ways to relieve your sore eyes. Here are four ways to minimize digital eye strain.

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Lesson #1: Practice the 20-20-20 Rule

No one is going to tell you to completely unplug. You can use the 20-20-20 rule.

Here’s how it works: For every 20 minutes of screen time, look at something 20 feet away, for 20 seconds.

Lesson #2: Give Your Eyes Some Space

The way you position yourself in front of your devices matters. If you look up at a screen, it forces you to open your eyes wider, which in turn dries them out faster.

Ideally, you want to look at cell phones from a foot away, computers from 2 feet away, and TV screens from about 10 feet away.

Lesson #3: Try Artificial Tears

When your eyes are busy staring at a screen, they’re not doing something important: blinking. And that’s a big deal.

When you blink, you’re coating your eye with a thin, fresh layer of moisture. If you don’t blink regularly, the result is dry eye, which is a big contributor to eye strain.

Artificial tears are an easy, affordable solution. Ask your optometrist about the best option for you.

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Lesson #4: Call Your Eye Doctor

If you continue to experience recurring eye strain, see your eye doctor. You might need a new prescription if you wear glasses or contacts.

It’s also a good time to ask whether any special eyewear could help. Glasses and contact lenses with anti-reflective and magnifying capabilities can cut down eye strain by reducing the amount of glare that reflects off your lenses.

There are even blue light blocking glasses that can be worn by themselves or over contact lenses.

Put these lessons into practice and you may find more than relief — you may be able to stop eye strain before it happens!