Top
Stories
Sports
Weather
News
Links
Internet
Consumer
Report
Women
In Leadership
Experts
Online
Closings
Mr.
Food
Mrs.
Fixit
Healthwatch
Simple
Solutions
Travel
I-Mail
Ask
the Manager
Classifieds
Ski
Reports
Contact
WTVH
Programming
Personalities
Jobs
at WTVH
WTVH
Info
|
|
 Computer
Vision Syndrome
VIDEO
If
your eyes ache after a long day in front of the computer screen, you’re
not alone.
Almost 90 percent of people who work at a computer for several hours
each day suffer from something called “Computer Vision Syndrome.”
Symptoms include headache, stiffness in your neck and blurred vision.
Dr. Howard Kass is an optometrist at Wal-Mart in East Syracuse. He said,
“Everyone's using the computer whether it's a PDA or a laptop, so
yeah, we've seen it big time, especially in big industry.” Dr. Kass
says your eyes have to strain to focus on reading off the computer
screen because the letters are not as sharp and clearly defined as the
ones you see in print. “Our brain can't always adjust to that change
so we go from an accommodating state, or focusing state, to a
non-focusing state. So the poorer the monitor, the more eye strain a
person gets,” Dr. Kass said. New technology, like LCD and plasma
screens, is taking some of the strain off your eyes.
Lighting in the room is also important- the lights should not be
brighter than your computer monitor. Soft lighting is generally better
than fluorescent and the color of the walls can even play a role. “Bright
walls just cause more reflection. More reflection-more headaches, more
discomfort,” Dr. Kass said. If you wear eyeglasses, buying a special
pair with anti-glare coating will also help your eyes. And if you do
spend hours at the computer, you have to remember to rest your eyes. “We
recommend for every hour they work to take a 10 minute break, look away
from the computer, blink the eyes, try to rewet their eye, if they can't
rewet it naturally, we suggest artificial tears to do that,” Dr. Kass
said. It will also help your eyes to sit at least 18 inches away from
the computer screen and adjust your chair so that you’re looking down
slightly at the monitor.
CLICK BELOW TO RETURN TO MY HOME PAGE
|
|
|
