Is eye strain bothering you?

Invariably, almost all of us, whether office goers, students or even homemakers, usually spend most of our waking time in front of the computer, without knowing how it could affect our eye health. This can lead to eye strain and also lead to dark circles, puffy and tired eyes and headaches. Dr Keiki Mehta, ophthalmic surgeon says, "We tend to feel physical and visual discomfort, just after a few hours of being in front of the computer. That starts of as tiredness and leads to eye muscle stress, headaches, burning sensations, blurred vision, loss of focus, double vision, watering of eyes and neck and shoulder pains. Before it is too late, take preventive measures."      Eye surgeon Dr Himanshu Mehta explains, "With increased use of computers in air-conditioned rooms at a stretch, when you are concentrating on writing, or even when kids are playing computer games, you blink less. Normally blinking three to four times a minute is necessary. When you don't blink properly, the tear film, which allows us to see clearly, gets affected. Because of that, your vision gets fuzzy and you experience itching, burning, redness of eyes, fatigue and heaviness of eyes."  TIPS TO REDUCE EYESTRAIN  Adjust your chair level to an appropriate height as per your computer. The contrast between the background and on-screen characters should be high.  Minimise glare — use window shades, blinds to block excessive sunlight and install an anti-glare screen.  Blink often as tears evaporate rapidly during non-blinking phases and cause dry eyes.  Re-focus your eyes by looking away from the computer screen for five to 10 seconds. Focus on a distant object and look at the computer again.