Digital Eye Strain: The Impact Of Screens

Digital eye strain is part of eye strain syndrome. It is linked to the continued and abusive use of screens. It is a situation which has consequences both on the professional environment and on daily life at home. In this article, we will detail its characteristics and the problems it causes.

Digital eye strain stems from indiscriminate use of screens. We can cite cell phones, computers, televisions and tablets, among others. In the near future, for example, we will be able to add virtual reality headsets.

Digital eye fatigue is due to the extra effort that the eye has to make. More precisely, the part most affected is the musculature responsible for the accommodation between near and far vision.

Prolonged use of screens forces the eyes to work in near vision mode, with a determined configuration of the ocular system. If we do not regularly separate the view from the screen to look further,  the effort is greater than normal. This is when fatigue appears.

This fatigue of the ocular muscular system makes it difficult to focus the eye. In the case of digital eye strain, one can perceive a decrease in the ability to focus closely. This thus creates a vicious cycle which results in eye strain along with other symptoms, such as itchy eyes.

Digital eye strain has been on the rise in recent years. It is calculated that, among people who spend more than three hours a day in front of a screen, this condition is found in almost 100% of cases.

Projections indicate that more  than a third of those under 15 will experience visual disturbances linked to digital eye strain over the next year. It also involves the development of myopia because of the screens.

Symptoms of digital eye strain

There are 4 characteristic signs of digital eye strain that often occur together:

• Itchy eyes: The need to rub their eyes is obvious in the person suffering from this fatigue. Some people experience a feeling of sand between the eyelids or even the sting of small needles under the eyelids. Itching leads to friction. Rubbing can in turn lead to redness and swelling
• Eyelid edema:  Whether from friction or digital eye strain itself, the eyelids become inflamed. Besides the eyelid edema, there are red eyes and tears. It is distinguished from bacterial conjunctivitis due to the absence of pus and chassie
• Headache:  the poor accommodation from which the eyes suffer leads to headaches. As a general rule, it is a headache located behind the eyes that tends to subside when the eyesight is resting, when we move away from screens or when we are looking for a far point of focus.
• Blurred vision:  between the lack of accommodation of fatigue, redness of the eyes, eyelid edema and tears, we lose clarity. It is not the loss of sharpness from myopia or other pathologies. On the other hand, we can perceive it as an intense blurred vision when we spend many hours in front of a screen.

The effects of blue light

The screens of our electronic devices  emit radiation known as “blue light”. This blue light is one of the main culprits of digital eye strain. Inside the eye, the retina is found to be the structure most damaged by blue light.

In the blue light spectrum, we mainly find blue-violet light. The latter is emitted by LED screens with a wavelength that damages ocular structures. It has been noticed that the retina ages faster when exposed to blue-violet light.

We also have  turquoise blue light. Its wavelength has been shown not to be as damaging to ocular structures. On the contrary, it would be a spectrum that is beneficial in maintaining circadian cycles of attention and sleep.

To combat the effects of blue-violet light, there are screen filters. The most used is the yellow filter which breaks down blue light. Video game players were the first to use it, especially those who participated in nightly championships of their specialty.

Prevention of digital eye strain

There are a series of steps you can  take to prevent the onset of digital eye strain. We can mention in particular:

• Temporarily stop using screens:  especially in jobs requiring a lot of computer use, it is important to regularly detach from the screen to do other things
• Adjust the light of the environment:  the eyes should not work forcibly with too strong or too weak illumination. The ideal is for the environment to be illuminated appropriately so that no additional effort is required.
• Look far ahead:  the rule called “20-20-20” has been proposed. This involves stopping the use of screens every 20 minutes for 20 seconds to look at something that is about 20 feet away, or a little over 6 meters. The change of focus rests the sight
• Massage the eyes with cold: it should be done in a gentle way as soon as the first signs of digital eye fatigue appear. The ideal is to use a cold gel which is in the freezer and to wrap it in a tissue so that it can be pressed on the closed eyelids.
• Reducing unnecessary use of screens: This  is perhaps the most important measure to adopt as a habit. The use of screens should be reduced at times when it is not necessary. You can’t do it in the context of a job that requires the use of a computer, but it is indeed possible at home, for example.