Combating Screen Fatigue

There’s no secret that our modern day lives involve lots of screens. From working at computers, to networking on our phones, tablets and watching the latest show on TV; it’s not unusual to spend a lot of our waking hours staring at screens. However, our eyes aren’t equipped to deal with this large amount of screen time and can lead to a common concern – screen fatigue.

Screen fatigue, also know as digital eye strain occurs when the muscles around our eyes become strained due to continuous staring with no rest time. (1)

How does Screen Fatigue Occur?

Our eyes do an incredible job of continuously adjusting their focus as we move our vision from one thing to another. The internal muscles of the eye includes the ciliary muscles. These muscles control our lens and therefore allows us to focus on specific objects. Our ciliary muscles relax when looking at objects in the distance, and contract when focusing on things close up – including screens. This muscle tension is held contracted for as long as we are staring at our screens, essentially keeping our eyes in a visual “squat” without even realising. And just like with actual squats, we get that burning sensation in our legs, as a response to reaching our limits. Just like all the muscles in our body, for our eyes to function effectively they need a period of rest/relaxation after momentary tightening. This allows blood to flow and regenerate the muscles before another contraction. (2)

Combating Screen Fatigue

These are our top 4 tips for combating screen fatigue: (3)

1.      Follow the 20-20-20 rule

Every 20 minutes, take 20 seconds to look 20 metres away in the distance. This is a great opportunity to reduce the strain on our ciliary muscles.

2.      Adjust your screen settings

Did you know that you can turn down the brightness on most of your devices. Reducing the brightness and increasing text size simply means our eyes aren’t straining as much to focus.

3.      Try an exercise known as “Palming”

Rest your elbows on a pillow or books so you can comfortably cover your eyes with your hands without straining your neck/back. Close your eyes and cup your hands so there is no pressure on your eyeballs. Allow the base of your hands to touch your cheeks while the fingers are interlaced and resting your forehead. Close your eyes and imagine seeing blackness. Breathe slowly and diaphragmatically while feeling the warmth of the palms soothing the eyes. Feel your shoulders, head, and eyes relaxing. Breathe slowly and deeply. Continue for 5 minutes.

4.      Move your body
Get up and walk, stretch, and move your body as often as you need! Don’t forget to blink and practice deep breathing throughout the day.

If you are experiencing headaches or have a sore neck/back from screen fatigue, our practitioners can help you! Our Osteopaths can also guide you in setting up your desk to reduce strain on your eyes and neck.

References

1. Digital Eye Strain [Internet]. OPSM. 2022 [cited 25 July 2022]. Available from: https://www.opsm.com.au/eye-care/workplace-services/eye-strain-symptoms

2. Chamberlain M. How To Combat Screen Fatigue After Staring At Your Computer All Day [Internet]. mindbodygreen. 2022 [cited 25 July 2022]. Available from: https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/screen-fatigue

3. Peper E. Resolve Eyestrain and Screen Fatigue. Well Being Journal. 2021;30(1):24-28.