How to Reduce Computer Eye Strain – Tips to Reduce Computer-related Eye Strain

Eye strain from computers is one of the most common complaints faced by individuals in today’s era of iPads, Tablets, LED TVs and other high tech devices. Although humans have benefitted a lot from the many innovations technology have made, there is also a flipside to it.

With increased usage of computers and other gadgets, more and more people are complaining about conditions like red eyes, blurred vision, headaches and neck pains. These common eyes and vision related problems are grouped together as Computer Vision Syndrome, a medical condition seen mostly in the corporate world and in people who frequently use computers for hours at a time. The discomfort level increases further as people continue to use the computer for extended periods. However, all these symptoms and discomfort can be managed easily by following the below mentioned tips to reduce computer-related eye strain.

Reduce the Computer Screen Glare

Use anti-glare filters that can lower around 90 percent of the glare caused by reflections on your computer screen or by direct lights. With the help of these anti-glare filters, the amount of glare is reduced as the light is trapped and dispersed thereby making it easy to read the contents on the screen.

Use Anti-glare Glasses

To protect your eyes from computer eye strain caused by reflections on your computer screen, you can also use anti-glare glasses or protective computer glasses. Such anti-glare glasses have protective color or polarized coatings that help to significantly lower the amount of glare. Apart from lessening the harsh glare emitted from computer screens, such coated lens also reduce the yellow tints or blue tints that are usually emitted by florescent and tungsten lights.

Take Sufficient Breaks

Another important trick is to give your eyes the much-needed relaxation by taking short breaks in between the computer work hours. This will not only help to reduce the strain in your eyes but will also lower your neck and shoulder pain occurring as a result of working for long hours in front of the computer. In case, you are unable to take such frequent work breaks, you can practice this simple but effective exercise of looking away from the computer screen every 20 minutes and then focusing on a distant object for around 15 seconds. After this, focus on an item closer to you and repeat the process a few times before continuing your work.

Lowering the Computer Monitor Brightness

Adjust the brightness on the computer monitor so that it doesn’t look either too bright or too dull. This can be done by adjusting the computer brightness to match the brightness of the surrounding environment. Alternately, you can also adjust the lights at your workstation to match the brightness of your computer.

Computer Screen Location

Another major factor that makes working on a computer more comfortable is the position of the computer screen. Ideally, the computer screen should be placed in such a manner that it is around 15 to 20 degrees below the level of the eye when measured around 20 inches from the eyes and the center of the computer screen.

Apart from this, you can also make other small modifications like adjusting the size of the text and contrast, increasing the display size of the browser and increasing the windows text size so as to facilitate a comfortable working experience.