Is your computer damaging your eyes?

[rewki]

Is your computer damaging your eyes?
More and more women are reporting problems with their vision—and their computers are to blame

By Jennifer Goldberg


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Moira Saganski's computer gives her a headache every day—and it's not from the amount of e-mails in her inbox. The 54-year-old chief financial officer from Toronto suffers from computer vision syndrome, a condition that's becoming increasingly common among middle-aged women who spend a lot of time looking at computer screens.

"Computer vision syndrome [C.V.S.] describes eye and vision symptoms that are associated with digital screens, including computers, Blackberrys and televisions," says Dr. Mira Acs, an optometrist based in Toronto. "We're seeing a higher volume of baby boomers complaining of eye strains and fatigue, and C.V.S. has become more frequent over the past five years as technologies have evolved. We all stare at screens of all kinds for long periods of time."

A recent study by Leger Marketing found that baby boomer women are spending more time in front of computer screens than ever before—more than four hours a day, on average—and 43 percent of them suffer from ailments related to screen-viewing.

Saganski spends anywhere from six to 13 hours working on a computer every day, and it's taking a toll on her vision. "I first realized that my eyes were getting blurry and very achey," she recalls. "My vision was changing and I had a lot of headaches that were related to strain on the eye."

Those are the symptoms of C.V.S., says Acs, as are light sensitivity and dry eyes. However, as these ailments are often associated with general fatigue, she says that many people don't even notice they have a problem. But left untreated, these symptoms could persist and even worsen.

"Sometimes [C.V.S.] requires vision correction," says Acs. "You may need to have your glasses or contact lenses fit for how you use a computer." An optometrist may recommend computer glasses, which have a different prescription on the top part of the lenses that allows you to focus on a computer screen. You may also get a prescription for artificial tears to relieve dry eyes.

Saganski says that after being diagnosed with C.V.S., she has become more aware of how her computer affects her vision, and what she can do for the uncomfortable symptoms. "Because I'm aware of it, I do try to take a break [when using a computer]. I go totally out of my office and take a walk around the work stations," she says.

Here are some steps you can take to help protect your eyes from computer-induced strain:

Take breaks
Saganski is certainly on the right track with her short office walks: When working on a computer, the Canadian Association of Optometrists recommends following what they call the "20-20-20 rule": Take a 20-second break from using your computer every 20 minutes and focus your eyes on something at least 20 feet away. This gives your eyes a chance to rest and recover from strain.

Adjust your screen
Be screen smart, says Acs. "Take a few minutes to adjust the brightness and contrast of your screen, and make sure it's positioned correctly—about arm's length [about 50 cm] from your eyes." The screen should also be places at 20 degrees below eye level.

Get the right light
"The lighting in the room is also very important," says Acs. Unfortunately, not everyone has the freedom to adjust the lights in their work environment, but you can cut glare and reflections on your home computer by diffusing the light that hits the screen. This will help reduce the amount of squinting you do.

Visit the eye doctor
Make regular appointments with your optometrist to ensure that you're wearing the appropriate corrective eyewear. You also want to make sure that what seems like C.V.S. symptoms aren't the result of another vision problem.


Is your computer damaging your eyes? | Health | Get Healthy | Best Health

[hollyhawkz]

LOL I just saw this on MSN this morning! Squint, squint!

[Peanutbutter]

Yep, my pc is torture... I already suffer from really bad myopia and astigmatism (RX is -13 or worse now).

I try to give my eyes breaks, but I can't say it does anything... my eyes steadily get worse and worse.

Interesting article about the cause of Myopia, basically it says that even if grandparents and parents didn't have myopia the children probably will... from going to school and sticking their noses in books all day & forgetting to exercise eye muscles with other things too.

http://www.preventmyopia.org/validation.html

[MissV]

Thank god for Lasik. My astigmatism killed me after working on the comp all day.

I still get headaches if I spend too long shifting my vision from a computer to the television or something else. Darn this multitasking!


Still, I wonder if those findings don't suffer from a bit of coincedence. It's no big secret that eye strain--often associated with computer screens--can can headaches, but blurry vision?

They're saying it's most common in middleaged women...but that's exactly when your vision starts to deteriorate noticeably too, and considering that most computer screens are now LCD and not the lighted beasts of the past....just seems like the findings may be a wee bit flawed.

Still, frequent breaks from ANYTHING are good, so I'm not against that. Besides, you need to take breaks from the comp for other reasons too--back problems, bloodclots, necessary excercise, carple tunnel, having no life--wait not that. ^^;

[LovelySydney]

Definitely hurts my eyes. I look at it all day and I have contacts for distance so they constantly have to adjust. Id do Lasik if I wasn't so freaked out about being awake for the procedure...

[MissV]

Originally Posted by LovelySydney

Definitely hurts my eyes. I look at it all day and I have contacts for distance so they constantly have to adjust. Id do Lasik if I wasn't so freaked out about being awake for the procedure...

It can be a little scary, but it's not so bad. I got mine done at TLC center (actually the same place Tiger Woods went) and they were really great and really helpful. They also have capital one financing and at the time they were doing a deal--I paid the whole thing off in 18 months and never paid a dime of interest!


The doctor talked to me the whole time, telling me what I was about to see and what he was doing--he went over that same list before the surgery too. Mainly it's very scifi. You stare into a red light that blinks, then go blind, then see super blurry, then it's like you're underwater (they wash it) then comes the next eye. The way they dilate them, you don't feel the need to blink at all. I was afraid of that, but it wasn't an issue.

The whole thing took about five minutes.
Oh, and at TLC they allow you to take valium to calm your nerves. I only took it to see what valium was like. ^^' Not as nice as vicodin, but I wasn't complaining!


The worst part is afterwards. They gave me tylenol pm to help me sleep and told me I should do so when I get home for 2 - 3 hours. Now, that' difficult...just to sleep in the day all the sudden o.0. So, I tried but I ended up waking before the meds fully kicked in and it was OW! Dry eye like no one has every felt before! I couldn't even open my eyes. That first day was kind of miserable....but it passes. The dry eye is tough to deal with, and the light sensitivity gets slowly better but remains for quite a few months.


But coming out of the surgery, I had 20/10 vision! Now it's at about 20/15, I believe, because it does go down just a bit as your eyes heal.

But the best part is no more not being able to see when I wake up in the morning and no more severe headaches after not having glasses on/contacts in for just a few minutes!



*Note: Do not open your eyes in the pool just a few months after lasik. Just don't.

[CRToon83]

I don't have to read that article to be able to confidently say "yes."