Tips for Maintaining Eye Health for Active Users of Electronic Devices

Nowadays, people spend more time staring at a cell phone screen, device, or computer than spending time sleeping.

The results of Millward Brown's research, a multinational market research company from the United Kingdom, in 2014 showed that people in the world aged 16-45 years spent 418 minutes (equivalent to 7 hours less 2 minutes) per day looking at the screen of electronic devices; mobile (most), television, laptops, desktop computers, and tablet computers. The study was conducted on 12,000 respondents from 30 countries.

The amount of time spent staring at the screen of this electronic device raises concerns about eye health.

Eyes Disorders

In general, excessive use of electronic devices can cause some common eye disorders:

Eyestrain

When viewing a device or computer screen, the eye will accommodate (the eye lens becomes more convex so that objects that are close can be seen more clearly). If this happens for a long time, the eye muscles will be exhausted and cause symptoms of dizziness, blurry, or double vision.

Dry eyes

When you are focusing on looking at the device screen or the computer for too long, you will usually "forget" to blink. This can cause the eyes to become painful, runny, feel hot, and red.

Nearsightedness (myopia)

Too often doing activities to see objects from a very close distance will cause the focus point of the eye to see objects at a distance to be reduced. This is one of the causes of nearsightedness.

Tips to reduce the use of electronic devices

To maintain our eye health, what we need to do is to reduce the use of electronic devices in our daily lives. Then, we must also ensure that their use is carried out safely and comfortably in the eyes.

Here are some tips that you can practice;

Rest your eyes

Even if you are very focused on work or watching on the electronic device that you use, make it a habit to stop periodically to rest your eyes.

Follow the 20-20-20 guide; every 20 minutes, take your eyes off the screen and look at objects at a distance of about 20 meters for about 20 seconds.

You can turn on the reminder on your computer or cell phone as a reminder to rest your eyes every 20 minutes, or download free applications that are available, one of which is Protect Your Vision.

Adjust the position and lighting on the computer screen

As many as 50-90 percents of people who work in front of a computer screen for hours each day experience symptoms of eye strain, such as dry eyes, sore eyes, headaches, or blurred vision.

Therefore, if you have to deal with everyday computers, for those of you who have to work using a computer every day, make sure the conditions are arranged so that it is comfortable for the eyes. For example, the ideal distance between the screen and your eyes is 50–76 centimeters.

Generally, people feel most comfortable at a distance of 50-65 centimeters. In addition, the top surface of the screen should be in line with your eyes. Tilt the top of the screen 10 to 20 degrees away from you so that your viewing angle is optimal.

Ideal font size and color.

Ideally, the size of the letters or fonts on a computer screen or device is three times larger than the smallest size you can read in a normal position (a distance of 50-76 centimeters).

For color combinations, most eyes are most comfortable seeing black letters on a white or yellowish background or base.

Avoid using letter and background settings with color combinations with low contrast levels; for example the letters are green on a yellow background, because they can make the eyes easily tired.

Glasses with anti-radiation lenses

For contact lens users, the eyes will work harder when staring at a computer screen. Therefore, it is better to take turns using eye glasses to ease eye work and reduce the incidence of eye strain / fatigue.

Try to have your glasses equipped with anti-radiation features that are designed to reduce exposure to light or glare, increase contrast, and optimize your vision to be more comfortable when looking at the screen.

Comfortable body position

Ideally, the use of a device or other electronic device is done in an upright sitting position. It is better to avoid staring at the screen in the lying position because it can trigger chronic pain.

The habit of staring at the screen in a lying position that is done routinely for a long time can make the neck muscles stiff and tense, so you will easily feel aches, difficulty moving the neck, dizziness, until the pain to the shoulder.

Make sure you understand the correct usage rules so that eye health is always maintained!

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