Specsavers Opticas (Columnist)
DAILY routines for people in Spain have changed dramatically in response to the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19).
With more people working from home and a higher daily screen time, it is more important than ever to look after your vision and try to reduce eye strain.
While eye strain is not usually serious and tends to go once you rest your eyes, symptoms to look out for include eye discomfort, headaches, sore, tired, burning or itchy eyes, difficulty focusing, watery eyes, dry eyes, blurred or double vision, and increased sensitivity to light.
Specsavers Opticas is here to offer professional advice on ways to manage computer strain and ensure a healthy working and living environment in the midst of this current situation.
Rest your eyes – Take regular breaks from looking at your screen. Take a minute to stare out a window as looking into a distance relaxes the focusing muscle inside the eye, which in turn reduces eye fatigue
Use adequate lighting – Poor lighting, including glare and reflections can result in eye fatigue. Use blinds to reduce brightness of excessive sunlight, avoid sitting under big overhead or fluorescent lights, and where possible, use floor lamps instead.
Reduce glare – Reflections on your computer screen can cause glare. Try reducing glare and reflections on your computer screen by attaching an anti-glare screen to your monitor. Any glasses wearers out there should use lenses with an anti-reflective coating to reduce glare.
Adjust your monitor’s settings – Ensure the brightness of your screen is the same as the surroundings and adjust font sizes and your monitor’s colour temperature to alter the number of blue colours on your screen. Blue light is short-wavelength visible light that is associated with more eye strain than longer-wavelength hues, such as orange and red.
Modify your workstation – Assess your workstation. Start with ensuring your workstation and chair are of an appropriate height to one another. Adjust the monitor height so that the top of the screen is at—or slightly below—eye level. Your eyes should look slightly downward when viewing the middle of the screen. Your computer screen should be 20 to 24 inches from your eyes and the centre of the screen should be 10 to 15 degrees below your eye line
Specsavers Opticas has temporarily closed its stores, to support the efforts to stop the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19).
During this time, it will continue to provide urgent support and advice to the public over the phone.
There is a wealth of information and advice and store contact details on the website, www.specsavers.es.
