Eye Education Series-Computer & Eye: Dr.

Murali Mohan Gurram

COMPUTER VISION SYNDROME Computers have become an essential part of life. Every one, in one or other situation , gets the need to use computer. Since the advent of games, various computer programmes, the use of computers extended to such an extent , that various jobs are now based solely on use of computers. Here the persons job demands the use of computer for more than 7 hours a day. Since the computer is involved with vision and eyes, it has some effect on eye and surrounding muscles.

The symptoms of computer vision syndrome are: headache, tiredness, irritation of eyes, dryness of eyes, redness, heavyness, watering etc. Most of these symptoms are due to Dryness of eyes which is created by the monitor light, and reduced blinking. The computer part with major effect on eyes is the monitor. The monitor emits light which causes of evaporation of tear film and thus causes dryness. Tear film is a thin film of liquid which covers the surface of eye. This wets the eye and nourishes it. If its depleted, eyes become dry and irritable. The light from the monitor also irritates the surface of eye.

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Eye Education Series-Computer & Eye: Dr. Murali Mohan Gurram

Normally we blink about 15 times per minute. Blink is very essential in that, it reforms the tear film which breaks up before the blink. Blinking occurs involuntarily without our knowledge. During computer usage, the blink rate falls down, as we are focusing on the monitor. This reduced blinking exposes the eye surface to environment for more than normal time. Thus the tear film gets evaporated, leading to dryness. The Display of letters in the monitor should be with high contrast and low brightness. The letters font should not be too small. Less contrast and small fonts, make the eyes to stress more to see. This stress causes headache, tiredness etc. The ambient light also plays a role. The room lights should not be too bright and they should not directly shine light on either the eyes or the monitor. STEPS TO REDUCE THE SYMPTOMS: The only way to totally get rid of symptoms is to stop computer usage which is not possible in todays life. The following ten steps would reduce the symptoms to a major extent. 1. Get a comprehensive eye exam. Having a routine comprehensive eye exam is the most important thing you can do to prevent or treat computer vision problems. Get your eyes checked by an ophthalmologist atleast once in a year. 2. Use proper lighting. Eye strain often is caused by excessively bright light either from outdoor sunlight coming in through a window or from harsh interior lighting. When you use a computer, your ambient lighting should not be very bright nor dark. Eliminate exterior light by closing drapes, shades or blinds. Reduce interior lighting by using fewer light bulbs or fluorescent tubes, or use lower intensity bulbs and tubes. If possible, position your computer monitor or screen so windows are to the side, instead of in front or behind it.

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Eye Education Series-Computer & Eye: Dr. Murali Mohan Gurram

3. Minimize glare. Glare on walls and finished surfaces, as well as reflections on your computer screen also can cause computer eye strain. Consider installing an anti-glare screen on your monitor and, if possible, paint bright white walls a darker color with a matte finish. If you wear glasses, purchase lenses with anti-reflective (AR) coating. AR coating reduces glare by minimizing the amount of light reflecting off the front and back surfaces of your eyeglass lenses.

4. Upgrade your display. If you have not already done so, replace your old tube-style monitor (called a cathode ray tube or CRT) with a flat-panel liquid crystal display (LCD), like those on laptop computers. LCD screens are easier on the eyes and usually have an anti-reflective surface. Oldfashioned CRT screens can cause a noticeable "flicker" of images, which is a major cause

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Eye Education Series-Computer & Eye: Dr. Murali Mohan Gurram

of computer eye strain. Even if this flicker is imperceptible, it still can contribute to eye strain and fatigue during computer work. Finally, choose a relatively large display. For a desktop computer, select a display that has a diagonal screen size of at least 19 inches.

5. Adjust your computer display settings. Keep the brightness low and contrast high. Dont use Backgrounds which makes the visibility of letters less. Use the letters of reasonable font size.

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Eye Education Series-Computer & Eye: Dr. Murali Mohan Gurram

6. Blink and rest. Blinking is very important when working at a computer; blinking moistens your eyes to prevent dryness and irritation. Since involuntary blinking gets reduced during computer use, try to blink voluntarily more often. To reduce your risk of dry eyes during computer use, try this exercise of 30-30. After every 30 minutes of computer usage, close your eyes gently for 30 seconds. This replenishes the tear film which got evaporated during the computer usage.

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Eye Education Series-Computer & Eye: Dr. Murali Mohan Gurram

7. Exercise your eyes. Another cause of computer eye strain is focusing fatigue. To reduce your risk of tiring your eyes by constantly focusing on your screen follow "20-20-20 rule": look away from your computer at least every 20 minutes and gaze at a distant object (at least 20 feet away) for at least 20 seconds. Looking far away relaxes the focusing muscle inside the eye to reduce fatigue. Also exercise the extraocular musles, so that they wont fatigue soon. Move your eyes in all directions for 2 minutes.

8. Take frequent breaks. To reduce your risk for computer vision syndrome and neck, back and shoulder pain, take frequent breaks during your computer work day. Every two hours, do the gentle neck exercises. 9. Modify your workstation. If you need to look back and forth between a printed page and your computer screen, this can cause eye strain. Place written pages on a copy stand adjacent to the monitor. See that your computer screen is 20 to 24 inches from your eyes. The center of your screen should be about 10 to 15 degrees below your eyes for comfortable positioning of your head and neck.

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Eye Education Series-Computer & Eye: Dr. Murali Mohan Gurram

10. Consider computer eyewear and medications For the greatest comfort at your computer, you might benefit from having your eye care professional modify your eyeglasses prescription to create customized computer glasses. Computer eye wear is nothing but a regular light weight glass with an Anti-Reflective Coating. A thin film is coated onto the glasses, which reflects the light emitted from the monitor, and thus reduces stress on eyes. Consult your eye doctor before using any eye glasses

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Eye Education Series-Computer & Eye: Dr. Murali Mohan Gurram

With the advice of your ophthalmologist , you can use artificial tear drops. There are many brands available in the market. Basically all of these function in the same manner. They wet the eye surface and thus correct dryness. They work well and relieve the symptoms quite fast , but the relief is only temporary.

Follow these steps, and start getting relieved of your computer vision syndrome problems. Happy browsing

(Thanks for google images for providing me the sources of images)

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