Is your computer harming your eyes?

Working for long hours in front of the PC may lead to computer vision syndrome

Devanshi Joshi. Vadodara

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

After working for long hours in front of a computer if you feel that your eyes are strained, your vision is blurred and you cannot focus on any subject, you must be suffering from computer vision syndrome, which is a temporary vision problem.Improperly placed computers, reflection of light, too dim or bright images and often blinking visuals are the main reasons for this syndrome. As the number of people working on computers has gone up, the number of people with temporary vision problem has increased too. Nimita Makhija works in a private firm at Alkapuri. She said, "My work demands me to sit in front of computer for eight to ten hours. I often feel that my eyes are dry and vision in not good for sometime. When I couldn't find any solution for my problem, I went to a doctor and he diagnosed it as computer vision syndrome. Now, I am following doctor's instructions and taking proper care of my eyes."Like Nimita, Aditya Shah, an IT professional, too suffers from the same symptoms. He said, "My work demands sitting in front of computer for long duration. I need to take care of my eyes more but work routine keeps me engaged for longer hours and as a result I feel dryness in eyes, irritation and blurred vision." Dr Chaitanya Buch, a medical practitioner and vice-chairman of computer society of India said, "When you look at a distance, your eyes are relatively relaxed. But while working on computers, muscles in your eyes have to work harder to keep a clear vision. Continuous work in front of computer creates temporary vision problems."Staring at computer screens may aggravate the problem leading to burning sensation, dry eyes and irritation. "As you sit for longer hours in front of computers, the blink rate drops by 50%, so instead of 15 blinks a minute your eyes blink only 7.5 times in a minute," he said. Dr Bipin Shah, an eye specialist, said, "Dry eyes can also occur because we tend to blink less as we concentrate on our computer screen and keep our eyes wide open when working on a computer." Is there any solution? Experts suggest some steps we should follow to tackle computer vision syndrome and keep our eyes strain-free. Keep your computer screen in such a position that the centre of the screen is 4-8 inches below your eye level. Keep a viewing distance of 20-28 inches. Take frequent break in between the work as ten minutes break after 30 to 45 minutes of continuous work reduces strain in eyes. Avoid sitting in a draught or near an air vent, direct draught makes eyes dry. Use glare filters over your computer screen to minimize radiation effect.