How Screen Time Affects Your Eyes

Are your eyes feeling fried after another Netflix binge? Perhaps you cannot look away from your phone even when your sight gets blurry. If this is the case, you are not alone. Screen time is soaring these days. Americans spend hours interacting with digital devices every day.

Unfortunately, the cost of all those handy gadgets and endless entertainment may affect your eye health. While screens connect you to information and fun, excessive screen time can significantly affect your vision over the years.

Computer vision syndrome, insomnia-inducing blue light overexposure, and weakened eyesight are growing issues. This article reveals the most concerning ways screens impact eyes and smart solutions for healthier device habits.

 

What Screens Do to Your Eyes

Looking at screens makes you blink less, causing eyestrain. Digital screens also reflect more blue light. The blue light can damage the eyes over time. Other issues, like dry eyes and headaches, also come from excessive screen time.

 

Poor Blinking and Dry Eyes

Staring at screens makes people blink less often. Blinking spreads fluid across the eyes for clear sight and comfort. Less blinking causes dry, tired, and irritated eyes. Dryness increases with screen use, causing soreness and blurring of vision temporarily.

 

Eye Strain Headaches

Eye muscles must focus and move constantly to take in screen images. Reading text and seeing fine details is also visually demanding. This strains the eyes more than looking at distant things. Eye tiredness can trigger headaches or migraines. After prolonged screen use, people feel eye fatigue, pain, and blurry vision.

 

Blue Light Exposure Risks

The blue light waves from screens are small and high-energy. This blue-spectrum light scatters more than natural light. It also reaches deep inside the eyes. Long-term blue light exposure may harm retina cells over time. It likely worsens night vision, sleep cycles, and diseases like macular degeneration.

 

Bad Vision Habits

Looking at nearby gadgets encourages bad vision habits, too. People tend to bring screens closer rather than correct vision issues. These strains focus muscles and may weaken eyesight control long-term without glasses. Slouching posture also strains the neck and shoulders while using phones and laptops.


 

Tips for Healthier Screen Use

Practice the 20-20-20 technique while using screens: Take 20-second breaks every 20 minutes to gaze at least 20 feet away. This rests the eyes and refocuses them. Other tips for healthier screen use include:

• Set screens at level with your eyes and an arm’s length away to lessen strain. Looking down forces the eyes to work harder.

• Adjust font sizes so your eyes do not strain to see text.

• Reduce blue light exposure at night with screen filters and avoid screens for two hours before bedtime.

• Check your seating and posture to reduce pain from screen slouching.

• Take regular blinking breaks to moisten your eyes. Lubricating drops also help reduce dryness.

See an Eye doctor

Get a complete exam every year or two as screen use increases. Eye doctors check for issues and ensure glasses or contacts meet changing vision needs for digital life. Discuss the effects of screen use and seek relief for eye discomfort. Proper vision correction makes screen viewing easier on the eyes.

Screens clearly impact the eyes and vision in some negative ways. But being wise about screen habits, getting vision checked regularly, and protecting eyes from strain with solutions like blue light-blocking glasses help ensure healthy eyes for years, even with rising digital device use.

For more eye care tips, visit Infinity EyeCare at our office in Rapid City, South Dakota. Call (605) 501-5600 to book an appointment today.