The average person spends about 12 hours on digital devices, be it a computer, television, or smartphone and that’s bad news for their eye health. Screens emit harmful blue light that causes eye problems and also impacts your health in other negative ways.

It’s difficult to stay off screens because you may be using them for work, school, to run errands, or to unwind after a long day. That is why you need to find ways to avoid eye problems that come with overusing screens. This article will give you tips on what to do to achieve that.

The light that you see as white light, whether natural or artificial is made up of a spectrum of differently coloured rays. They include red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Light on the red end has long wavelengths and low energy levels while light in the violet end has short wavelengths and high energy levels. Thus, blue light has high energy levels and so has harmful effects on your eyes if you’re overexposed to it.

Naturally, blue light is emitted by the sun while artificially; it’s produced by flat-screen TVs, computers, tablets, LED lights, smartphones, and laptops.

Natural blue light is responsible for controlling your sleep-wake cycle, boosting your mental functions, and aiding in the development of proper vision in children. However, artificial blue light is not that beneficial to you. In fact, it’s hazardous! This is because people expose themselves to overwhelming amounts of blue light when they spend prolonged periods in front of digital screens. This exposure is not limited to only day time but also a big chunk of night time as well. So much blue light is too much for your eyes and you may develop some conditions like:

Digital eye strain is a condition of the eyes where they get dry, red, or sore after prolonged use of screens. You also get blurry vision, headaches, neck, and back pains. It’s one of the most common complaints optometrists get from people who have a lot of screen time.

This is a condition where the cells in the eyes break down and cause blurry vision. It’s mostly an age-related disease but overexposure to blue light can contribute to its development.

How to Prevent Digital Eye Strain While Using Screens

The best way to avoid the dangers of blue light is to limit your exposure. This can be done in several ways:

Spending every waking moment on screens is bound to give you eye strain. Cutting down on too much screen time will prevent you from getting digital eye strain. You can even go on a digital fast every once in a while to connect with family and friends.

Cutting down on screen time may not be a viable option, especially if your work involves you working on a screen all day. In such a case, taking breaks in between screen time will keep eye strain at bay. Take a walk outside for about 10 minutes every hour to give your eyes a break.

Your eyes often strain when there's a big difference between the brightness of your screen and the light in your room. Whenever you look away from the screen, the lenses of your eyes have to adjust to accommodate the change in light and it quickly happens again when you take your eyes back to the screen. Frequent abrupt changes in the adjustment of your lenses cause eye strain.

To prevent this, adjust your screen’s brightness to match the brightness of the light in your room or if your light is adjustable, make it match the brightness of your screen.

When you spend a lot of time staring at your screen, you tend to forget to blink so your eyes dry up and strain. Remember to blink often to cause the production of tears that will keep your eyes hydrated. You can also get eye drops to assist the hydration process.

Computer glasses are eyewear made with special coatings on the lenses that filter blue light before it gets to your eyes. They are especially useful at night when your eyes are not supposed to be receiving any light because you’ll have a hard time falling asleep. They can either be prescription or non-prescription glasses depending on your needs.

Blue light screen protectors are physical filters that can be placed on the screens of computers, smartphones, or tablets. Like computer glasses, they are made with a coating that filters out light found in the blue-light wavelength range.

 

Blue light causes other health problems such as insomnia and mood disorders. To get answers to questions about blue light effects on health and solutions, Ocushield should be your go-to. They offer high-quality blue light products like computer glasses and blue light screen protectors. Your eye health depends on it!