A lot of our lives are spent staring at our digital devices. Whether we’re watching something on TV, checking our phones, working on our computers, we’re constantly looking at screens. It’s almost entirely unavoidable.

Unfortunately, constantly viewing a screen is damaging to your eye health. You can begin to experience symptoms of computer vision syndrome and digital eye strain such as eye fatigue, discomfort, dry eyes, headaches, blurred vision, neck and shoulder pain, red eyes, and more.

Sound uncomfortable? It is. Thankfully, here are 6 easy things you can do to help reduce digital eye strain.

Get A Comprehensive Eye Exam

Never skip an eye exam! They are extremely important to the lasting health of your eyes and also to preventing eye diseases. Read our blog post about the importance of never skipping an eye exam here.

Use Proper Lighting

It’s not a myth! Using your laptop, reading, or looking out at places when it is too dark or too bright is extremely damaging to your eye health. If your space is too bright, try getting drapes, shades, or blinds. Or, if your space is too dark when your eyes need to focus on something, turn on some sort of light.

Upgrade Your Display

With all the new information available about how damaging screens can be to our eye health, technologies have been developed to help reduce this damage! Instead of suffering with old technology, you can upgrade your screens to have high resolution displays and even blue light protection.

Adjust Your Computer Display Settings

If you can’t upgrade your devices to the best of the best, then there are some other simple things you can do to reduce eye strain. First, adjust your brightness so that it is consistent with your surroundings’ brightness. Then, adjust text size and contrast. Larger font on contrasting colours (black print on white background) is ideal. And finally, change your colour temperature to be slightly more yellow to reduce the amount of blue light being emitted from your display.

Blink More Often

It sounds simple and extremely obvious, but many people actually don’t blink when they are looking at screens for extended periods of time. To remind yourself to blink, start practicing the 20/20/20 rule: Every 20 minutes look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds!

Get Computer Glasses

For the ultimate comfort while looking at your computer for an extended period of time, invest in some good blue light glasses to use at your desk! All you have to do is ask your eye care professional to modify your eyeglass prescription to include blue light blocking lenses. These glasses will help in computer eye strain relief.

Make your eye health a priority, especially since our digital screens aren’t going anywhere. Visit Dr. D’Orio Eyecare today to get the best eye care advice and service in Toronto! Call us today to book an appointment: North York Eye Clinic: 416-661-5555, Toronto Eye Clinic: 416-656-2020

The post 6 Easy Ways To Reduce Digital Eye Strain appeared first on Best Optometrist in Toronto.

What is Blue Light?

The light we see is a combination of different coloured lights (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet). Each of these have a different wavelength and emit a different sort of energy. Blue light rays have shorter wavelengths and more energy, meaning that light that looks white can have a high blue component due to the amount of energy it releases.

Where Does Blue Light Exist?

Because light is a combination of all colours, blue light exists in every type of light. The largest source of it is sunlight, but people are being more and more exposed to the blue light in sources such as:

• Fluorescent lights
• CFL (compact fluorescent light) bulbs
• LED light
• Flat screen LED televisions
• Computer monitors, smart phones, and tablet screens

The blue light that you get from screens is smaller than the amount given off from the sun, however, longer exposure to these small amounts of blue light is just as damaging to the eyes.

How Does Blue Light Affect The Eyes?

Blue light passes through the cornea and lens (and until it reaches the retina). This action prematurely ages the eyes and can disrupt vision. Too much exposure to blue light can cause concerns such as digital eye strain and retina damage.

How To Protect Your Eyes From Blue Light?

If you are often exposed to blue light, here are a few things that you can do to project your eyes:

• Try to decrease the amount of time you spend in front of screens
• Invest in blue light filters for your screens
• Get computer glasses with yellow-tinted lenses to help ease digital eye strain
• Invest in anti-reflective lenses for your glasses

If you are concerned about how blue light emissions affecting your eyes, talk to your eye care professional today. Dr. D’Orio Eyecare professionals can offer you the advice and get you the protection you need. Call us today at either of our locations to book an appointment: Toronto location (416) 656-2020, North York location (416) 661-5555.

The post How To Protect Your Eyes From Blue Light Emissions appeared first on Best Optometrist in Toronto.