Computers and smart devices are a constant part of our daily lives. They offer a convenient way to stay connected with the happenings of the world, but too much screen time could be harming your patients’ eyes.
American Optometric Association shares that the most prevalent issues of patients who spend long periods of time at a computer include eye-strain, blurred vision, and other computer vision syndrome symptoms.
As vision problems are the most commonly reported symptoms of computer vision syndrome, it’s important to encourage all patients, but especially those who work with computers for many hours a day, to adopt better computer use and eye care habits, such as the following:
- Blinking regularly to wash the eyes with natural tears and using artificial tears as needed.
- Incorporating the 20-20-20 rule into their daily routines – Take a 20 second break every20 minutes to look at something that’s 20 feet or further away.
- Remind them of proper workstation setup, which will help ease vision issues as well as other physical pain sitting at the computer for long periods of time can cause.
- Investigate other factors that could contribute to these problems, like drafty, dry, or dusty air. Penn State’s Scheie Eye Institute offers a variety of ways to address these contributing factors.
Of course, it is also important for patients to receive regular comprehensive eye exams as a preventive measure. Comprehensive eye exams should include ultra-widefield retinal imaging to spot underlying issues that may not be detected by conventional equipment much earlier.
Practitioners looking to add advanced ultra-widefield retinal imaging to their practice are invited to visit the Optos website to learn more about our retinal imaging devices and software. Our optomap technology provides a 200-degree view of the retina do help detect, diagnose and treat a variety of eye conditions, as well as systemic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and heart and vascular diseases.
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