Computer Vision Syndrome may affect 70 percent of computer users

By Leslie Tang, Town Crier Editorial Intern

You are sitting in front of the computer and you feel that familiar headache. It’s as if your contact lenses are suctioned permanently to your dry eyes, and for the second that you look away from the glaring monitor, all the pictures on the wall look kind of hazy.

These are symptoms of Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS). According to a pilot study conducted at the University of Alabama-Birmingham School of Optometry, CVS symptoms may affect as many as 70 percent of all computer users.

In today’s cyberworld, where activities such as shopping, dating, chatting, and research can be done at the click of a mouse, computer usage is becoming a hazardous addiction.

“Individuals who spend a prolonged amount of time on the computer tend to over-focus and strain their visual system,” said optometrist M. Pia Hoenig, O.D., in an article in Parenting Magazine. Hoenig compared CVS with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, another repetitive-motion injury.

“CVS is caused by a variety of factors such as improper lighting, screen glare, ill-adapted work space, poor posture and glasses or contacts with incorrect prescriptions,” Kent M. Daum, O.D., optometry Ph.D, said in Yoga Journal.

Experts say that more than three hours of constant computer use a day will take a toll on eye health.

After averaging 10 hours a day on the computer for his job in a Los Altos tax office, Hal Bain of Conard & Associates said he often feels the strain on his eyes by the time 5 p.m. rolls around.

“My eyes get exhausted to the point where by the end of the day I have a headache and I just want to lie down and close them,” Bain said, “I notice that staring at the screen makes me tired a lot quicker.”

Some companies are looking into providing their computer-using employees with computer eye wear. Medtronic, a major medical product manufacturer, has made computer eye wear available to all employees diagnosed with CVS by an eye doctor.

Parents must be particularity wary of their children’s computer habits. “The unique characteristics of a child’s eye functions, combined with the way children use computers, make them more susceptible to eye strain,” said Hoenig.

Experts suggest dimming lights in the workspace to reduce eye fatigue. “The eye adjusts to the relatively dim computer

screen,” said Daum. “If you have a brightly lit office, whenever you look away from the screen, your eyes have to adjust to that brighter light, which can lead to eye fatigue,” he said.

Other suggestions are: adjusting the computer monitor just below eye level to relax the head, blinking regularly to keep eyes lubricated, using eye drops (Yoga Journal suggests staying away from drops

containing phenylephrine or other whitening agents which worsen symtoms),taking frquent breaks and getting regular eye exams.