How Screen Time Effects the Eye

Viewing Angles Cause Eye Strain
Staring at a Screen for Hours at a Time Puts Incredible Stress on Your Eyes, Especially When Your Glasses and Contact Lenses Are Not Calibrated for Mid-distance Viewing. This Stress Causes Computer Vision Syndrome Which is Estimated to Affect 50-90% of Adults. Common Symptoms of Computer Vision Syndrome Are Tired Eyes, Dry Eyes, Painful Eyes, and Headaches. Symptoms Generally Occur After Long Periods at a Computer or Looking at a Phone. In Addition to the Viewing Angles Causing Strain on the Visual System, Staring at Screens is Associated With an Increase in the Upper Back and Neck Pain.

Blinking When Using a Digital Device
Studies Show That We Blink Much Less When Using a Digital Device. Generally Blinking Rates Are Effected by the Brightness of the Screen as Well as the Task Being Performed (With More Intensive Thinking Tasks Causing Less Blinking). Not Only is Our Rate of Blinking Decreased by Up to 80%, but the Type of Blink is Effected as Well, With a Huge Increase in Incomplete Blinks When Using a Digital Device. Since Our Eyes Are Dependent on Blinks to Refresh the Tear Layer to Keep Our Eye Moist, the Lack of Blinking Causes Symptoms Associated With Dry Eyes Disease.

Blue Light
Light is Made Up of Different Colors in the Spectrum to Produce What We Consider White or Warm White Light. Cooler or Whiter Colors Are Made Up of More Colors From the Blue Spectrum. As We Are Exposed to More and More Light From Computers, Cell Phones and Other Devices, We Need to Be Careful of the Long Term Effects of Exposure. Our Eyes Are Not Effective at Filtering Out Blue Light and Virtually 100% of the Light Travels Through the Cornea Into Our Retina. Several Studies Have Shown That Blue Light Does Cause Damage to the Retina and May Have an Increased Risk of Macular Degeneration (the Leading Cause of Blindness for the Elderly).