I am sure it has happened to you…
After hours and hours of computer work, your eyes begin to feel extremely tired. Words begin to blur together. You read things slower. You increase the number of errors in your work and your overall motivation begins to come to a halt.
What’s going on here?
Specifically, it’s eye strain from staring at a computer screen for too long and not giving your eyes a break. (This can also happen from driving in the car or reading.)
When it specifically happens just from computer work it is often referred to as Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS).
Is it serious?
Not usually, but one article I read suggested that there are now indications that heavy computer users (ME) are at risk for glaucoma.
Eye strain is way more common than you may think. I found a study that showed that 50-90% of computer workers complain of eyestrain.
Here are some of the signs you may be suffering from CVS and need to change something:
- The obvious, burning or dry eye sensation
- Blurred vision after prolonged times on the computer
- Headaches after or while doing computer work
- Sudden change in your glasses or contact prescription
After reading through those, I realized I have almost all of them occur to me on a daily basis.
Since I can’t change professions, I decided to look up some remedies. There are quite a few different ideas out there for how to help relieve some of the eye strain that comes with working on a computer all day.
Work in a well lit room: my eyes tend to bother me if the lighting in the room is bad and alI can see is the glare from the computer screen.
But not too bright… make sure to minimize outside light shining in. Close drapes and blinds from the outside so that you dont get a glare coming off or your computer or any bright lights shining directly into your eyes.
I found this one particularly helpful for those that wear glasses:
Have anti-reflective coating applied to your lenses. It improves both your vision through your lenses by minimizing the amount of light reflecting off surfaces causing a glare.
Get an annual eye exam. This way if you can find out if you need a change in your glasses prescription or just glasses in general. Also, make sure to tell your doctor if you work on the computer a lot and have been struggling with it. They can probably recommend glasses just for reading while on the computer.
Take frequent breaks. I have noticed that not only do many people only take one break a day, but a lot of them only spend their lunch inside. And most of that break is spent on their computer on social networking sites or responding to e-mails.
Give it a break! You have got to let your eyes look away from that computer screen every once in a while!
Remember to also blink more frequently because this moisturizes your eyes. Studies have shown that people blink less while staring at a computer screen and thus further drying out their eyes and contributing to the problem.
I would try and take note of it during a day and blink more than usual (even if you feel weird). Then see if there is an improvement at the end of a work day.
Tip: Sometimes I will even close my eyes for a half a minute when they are starting to really hurt and it can be a relief and quite calming during a hectic day.
Adjust the brightness and contrast of your computer screen. Try different options and see which works best for you. Along with that same idea- make sure that the font that you are reading is large enough and doesn’t cause any further strain. If you feel yourself struggling to read it, you probably should increase the size of the font. And remember to not use random colors like light blue or yellow- when in doubt, black and white is the best. (Hence the reason it being the main text you see on papers, books and websites.)
Position your computer screen so that is easy for you to view. Either tilt it up or down and move it back and forward. I noticed that although my computer looked really cool at the very back corner of my desk, it was a lot easier to see and type on it when I pulled it out closer and more directly in front of me.
Make sure to also clean your computer screen regularly (with the proper wipes of course). Dust and finger smudge prints can collect on your computer very easily and make your viewing not crystal clear like it should be. 
You can even go that extra mile and invest in an anti-glare screen. This additional step may be a little much for most people, especially considering their current computer screen is working just fine, but I had to throw it out there.
If your problem is more about your eyes feeling dry- you may want to invest in some eye drops. I recommend not using your typical Visine, but instead just using artificial tears.
What happens when you get home from work and none of these seemed to help?
You also could try putting wet, warm washcloths on your eyes after you get home.
I had a roommate who used to do this. Make sure they aren’t steaming hot so they burn your skin, but warm enough. (Your eyelid skin is very sensitive so feel them first before putting them directly onto your eyelids.) Lay back and just relax for a little. Repeat this process 3 or 4 times a night and you should begin to feel some relief.
