Here are some helpful tips for safer screen viewing:

The use of digital devices at home, school and work has made exposure to blue light unavoidable and digital eye strain may well be a common experience of most device users.

here are some helpful tips for safer screen viewing:

• Reduce the glare of your device. You can do this from your control setting, also glare reduction filters for computer screens are also available.
• Clean your screen. Smudge-free and dust-free screens aid better viewing and further reduce glare.
• Dim the surround lighting, and backing a bright window/light source when using such devices.
• Increase the font size you work with.
• Make conscious effort to blink more often during your use of digital devices.
• Limit the amount of your screen time, apply the 20-20-20 rule (check last week’s post for details).
• Wear computer glasses – multi-focal lenses that aid focusing at the work distance. This can be gotten after due examination by an Optometrist.

Hopefully these tips will help you avoid the suffering that digital eye strain brings.

Feel free to contact us with your questions and comments; Have a splendid week ahead!

 

You may be suffering from Digital Eye Strain… Click to find out:

You may be suffering from Digital Eye Strain…

The increased use of digital devices like laptops and smart phones as is obtainable today, increases our exposure to the damaging blue light as well as digital eye strain. Some of the symptoms of digital eye strain include;

Dry eyes

Redness

Blurry vision

Headaches, neck and back pains

Are you familiar with any of these feelings/complaints?

Some of the following factors might be contributing to the disturbing symptoms of digital eye strain:

• Using out-dated spectacle prescriptions to work/operate such digital devices
• Using low-resolution computer monitors
• Sitting too close to the screen, hunching your back to have a better focus of the text on the screen
• Poor sitting posture, using an inappropriate furniture – very high/low table, very high/low chair
• Excessive or inappropriate positioning of overhead lighting
• Continuous stare at the screen without re-focusing or blinking
• Spending excessive time working on the digital devices.

Do you find yourself in any of the above-stated positions? Take care to ensure that you make changes in your frequency and mode of using these digital devices to avoid the discomforting symptoms of Digital Eye Strain.

If you are already experiencing this, take out time to visit an Optometrist to receive the necessary care and solution to the problem. You are also welcome to contact us with your questions and comments.

 

 

What can you do to protect yourself from the harmful effects of blue light?

It seems we are cannot escape the exposure to blue light in today’s digital world. What can you do to protect yourself from the harmful effects of blue light? Here are a few helpful tips:

• Have a comprehensive eye exam and let your doctor know the extent of your exposure. Take preventive care today!
• Use UV filter sunglasses and spectacles lenses with protective coatings that block out blue light penetration. Ask your Optometrist for available options.
• Have your digital devices covered with blue light/UV-filter screens
• Reduce the amount of time you spend exposed to blue light sources and apply the 20-20-20 rule when you have to work extensively with such; every 20 minutes, look away from your device at a target 20 feet from you for 20 minutes. Take a visual break.
• Do not use such digital devices just before you sleep and do not sleep with lights on, you can use a sleep blindfold if necessary.

Bear in mind that the harmful effects of over-exposure to blue light may not manifest immediately but with chronic exposure, gradual degenerative changes are inevitable on the structures of the eye and will manifest in the near future. Take preventive care today.

Try these tips out and let us know how you fared.

Do have a splendid week.

What you should know about Blue Light…

What you should know about Blue Light…

Welcome to the month of February, 2016.

Firstly, what is blue light? Blue light is the part of the visible light spectrum before the ultra-violet range. The blue light has twice as much energy per photon as the red light at the opposite end of the light spectrum. Most people are not aware of the aspect of the light spectrum and its significance. Sources of blue light include Sunlight, digital screens at home, school and work (TVs, smart phones, laptops, desk tops, tablets/readers, video games), LED lighting/bulbs. Today, our exposure to blue light is almost unavoidable and even children are not left out with the use of digital devices beginning at younger ages. This is not a healthy trend; how exposed are you or your children to blue light?

Blue light is vital in maintaining body functions such as the sleep-wake cycle and even our vision. The turquoise-blue portion of the blue light is the beneficial portion responsible for all these. However blue light is dangerous because it penetrates the various surfaces of the eye to reach the retina whereas other rays are absorbed only at the level of the anterior eye.

The cumulative effect of chronic exposure of the eye to blue light could lead to conditions such as Cataracts, Blue light retinal injury/eye burn, Age-related Macular degeneration, Digital eye strain (dry itchy eyes, red eyes, blurred vision, headaches).

Other effects of blue light over-exposure include sun burn, insomnia and some cancers.

Helpfully, there are professional remedies and help for these conditions especially the eye-related ones. This February, please seek the services of a professional eye care provider or contact us to help you through if you are affected.