Digital eye strain

Do your eyes hurt from staring at a computer all day? Are they dry and itchy? Do you suffer from loss of focus, blurry vision or fatigue? Headaches or neck pain? All these things are symptoms of digital eye strain.

Most of us spend the majority of our waking hours staring at digital screens, whether it's the computer at work, mobile phone, iPad, PlayStation… or just relaxing the old fashioned way in front of TV. All this screen time can be hard on your eyes and can lead to eye strain.

The most common symptoms of digital eye strain are:

• Sore tired eyes
• Dry eyes, itchy eyes
• Headaches
• Neck and shoulder pain
• Blurred vision

The two main culprits behind digital eye strain are exposure to blue light and glare from digital screens.

These days blue light is all around us. It exists naturally from the sun as well as artificial light sources, including digital screens like your smartphone, tablet, computer or TV. This blue light is a high energy light with short wavelengths and the downside of this artificial blue light is that it can bother our eyes.

Glare from digital screens can cause stress on our eyes and make our screen time uncomfortable. It’s the glare from the screens can make it harder for us to focus on the screens, placing stress on our eyes and contributing to digital eye strain.

Another reason you are tired

Blue light can also lead to other forms of fatigue beyond eyestrain. Blue light during the day is beneficial because it boosts attention, reaction times and mood. However at night, artificial blue light disrupts the circadian rhythm that causes the natural release of melatonin that helps us sleep. Because the blue light tricks our brain into believing it’s still daytime, falling asleep can be more difficult and we don’t sleep as deeply. Circadian disruption can also lead to other more serious side effects, including an increase in obesity and depression.

There is a solution

There are a few ways to combat digital eye strain: In addition to our Baxter Blue glasses, we suggest you adopt the 20-20-20 rule which says that for every 20 minutes of screen time you should look at something 20 feet (6 meters) away for 20 seconds. Another great tip is to ensure you position yourself at arms distance from your screen. If symptoms persist we recommend seeking advice from an optometrist.