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How To Prevent Eye Strain Caused Due To Excessive Screen Time

Dr. Sreelekha Daruvuri

3 Min Read

Working from home during this pandemic can get very stressful. While the balance between work and life might suffer disturbances for most of us, it is our eyes that are bearing the brunt of this burden due to the constant exposure to computer screens and smartphones.

Eye strain happens when we over-exert our eyes either due to continuous driving for long hours or due to staring at digital screens. While it doesn’t have any serious, long-term consequences it can be exhausting. It also hampers your focus and can be quite aggravating. It is easily curable and all it takes is to switch off the screen and give your eyes some rest for a while.

Symptoms of eye strain

Some of the symptoms of eye strain include-

Increased sensitivity to light
Burning sensation in the eyes
Headache
Blurred vision
Dry or watery eyes
Itching or burning in the eyes
Associated soreness in the neck and shoulders

While the symptoms of eye strain go away with sufficient resting, if these symptoms persist then it might be due to an underlying eye infection and a doctor should definitely be consulted.

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Tips to manage eye strain

Here are some lifestyle tips and solutions that one can easily follow at home to reduce eye strain-

Take frequent breaks- When working constantly on the laptop or desktop, make sure that you take breaks and rest your eyes every once in a while, this will allow some relaxation and time-off from continuously looking at screens. Make sure that you are not looking at your phone either during this break.

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Adjust the lighting- While looking at the screen, make sure that your room is softly lit to prevent too much light from entering your eyes. While reading, make sure that the source of light is behind you and is focussed on what you are reading. As far as table lamps go, make sure that they are shaded. Adjust brightness on your devices too so that they are not too hard on the eyes.

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Use artificial tears- Over-the-counter artificial tears are available at any pharmacy and can be used to prevent dryness of eyes. Such artificial tears are also known as eye-lubricators and since they don’t contain any preservatives, they can be used often. However, self- medication should be avoided especially if you also have associated redness or severe itching of the eyes. It is advised to consult a doctor who can help in picking the right solution that would best suit the patient.

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Invest in eye-gear- Those engaging in screen-intensive work should definitely consider wearing protective eye-gear that are specifically designed to reduce the strain caused by screen-light. Tinted or coated lenses are other options that one can try out.

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Adapting to this new routine of working from home can be challenging especially since now both work and chores have to be managed. But this is no reason to ignore one’s health. It is important to remember that even during these trying times, health always comes first. Only by remaining healthy and safe can we hope to rise above this crisis and come out of it unscathed.

Note: If you have any health concerns for yourself or your family, you can now speak to top doctors online on our platform. You can also take the free COVID-19 self-assessment to know your risk of contracting coronavirus infection. In case you’re experiencing symptoms like sore throat, cough, fever, or breathing difficulty, get your symptoms assessed by top doctors on your phone on the MFine app.