At both home and the office, patients are spending an increasing portion of their day using computers.
Contact UsMany patients complain of eyestrain, headaches, dry eyes, contact lens intolerance, frequent blinking and other computer related ocular complaints.
To minimize these adverse effects our doctors can analyze a patient’s individual computer demands and work station ergonomics to arrive at an optimum computer prescription or other vision related recommendation for computer use. Our recommendations may be the key to making computer related work less stressful, more comfortable and more productive.
Protect Your Vision
Computer screens, smartphones, tablets, fluorescent bulbs—blue light is all around, and the sun is actually the largest source of it. Some of it is helpful, like Beneficial Blue Light (which is blue turquoise and defined as 465-495 nm on the light spectrum), which helps regulate the sleep cycle, your mood, and cognitive performances.
However, long-term and continuous exposure to Harmful Blue Light (or blue-violet light) can contribute to long-term damage of your eyes. Those at highest risk are people with a family history or exhibiting signs of AMD, and working professionals, children, teens, and gamers.
Crizal Prevencia lenses reduce exposure to Harmful Blue Light while still allowing beneficial blue-turquoise light to pass through. Plus, they provide all the benefits of no-glare lenses. Help protect your eyes from blue-violet light with Crizal Prevencia lenses.
Computers are not damaging to the eyes and visual system, however, they do create the following visual demands that are unlike most demands the human visual system is familiar with:
Reading distance
Most conventional reading activities are performed at about a 16″ reading distance. Computer monitors, however, are often placed at a 20-26″ distance. The intermediate computer monitor distance requires an entirely different prescription than a conventional reading prescription.
Bifocals and trifocals field of view
Progressive “no line” bifocals and trifocals do provide an intermediate prescription portion, however, the intermediate lens area is too small for prolonged computer work. An individualized computer prescription may be prescribed that provides a much larger field of view than most bifocal or trifocal designs.
Gaze behavior
Most conventional near demands are in down gaze such as while reading a book or doing desk work. Computer demands involve near tasks in down gaze (the keyboard or reference text), as well as the unique computer related intermediate demands in a straight ahead gaze ( the computer monitor). Most bifocals only provide near prescriptions in down gaze
Monitor coatings
Computer monitors can create uncomfortable glare and contrast conditions. Reflection free and other ophthalmic coatings can eliminate 99% of disturbing glare and reflections, while increasing computer monitor visual contrast.
Break time
Proper visual hygiene can further improve visual comfort and performance by taking a short break (15 minutes) every two hours.
Placement
Computer workstations should be set up a way so as to avoid glare and reflections from windows and other sources of illumination.
Blink rate
Computer contrast demands coupled with computer flicker often lead patients to stare at the computer monitor and result in a decreased blink frequency. Eventually the decrease in blink rate leads to a dehydration of the tear layer resulting in red, dry, burning eyes. Frequent voluntary blinking can reduce these effects. When necessary, artificial tears can be prescribed to alleviate symptoms.