Cellphones, tablets, laptops, gaming devices — screens are in use around the clock while we learn, work, relax and interact. The amount of time we spend tuned into them has grown since the pandemic, and it isn’t lessening.
The average American spends roughly seven hours every day in front of some type of screen.
A 2022 survey for the American Optometric Association found that the average gamer spends more than eight hours daily.
According to a 2024 report from the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, children ages 8-12 in the United States, on average, spend four to six hours a day watching or using screens, one hour more than 10 years ago.
Teens are up to nine hours a day.
What’s all this screen time doing to our vision?
How do we keep our eyes healthy and fit?
According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, there is no scientific evidence that light from screens is harmful. It’s the time we spend using and viewing electronic devices, especially at close range, with less time looking at anything distant.
Computer vision syndrome, aka digital eyestrain
Prolonged use of electronic devices, according to vision experts, is contributing to computer vision syndrome, a cluster of symptoms that includes headaches, eye discomfort, eye strain, dry eyes and blurred vision. At greatest risk, according to the Optometric Association, are people who spend two or more continuous hours every day on computers or handheld devices. The more time you spend, the longer the symptoms can take to subside. And the more discomfort you feel.
It’s a digital world, so what should we do?
The American Optometric Association says to start with computer hygiene:
• Adjust your screen settings to reduce the glare caused by light reflecting from the surface.
• Room lighting should be about the same as your screen brightness — not brighter or dimmer.
• Cut down on glare by moving away from a window, or turn your desk or computer so outside light isn’t reflecting.
• Use zoom to see details and fine print.
• Keep your face at least 13 to 20 inches away from your smartphone, small tablet or small laptop — and more than 20 inches away from larger screens.
• Take a 15-minute break for every two hours that you spend viewing an electronic device.
Blink often
People normally blink about 15 times a minute. But when we’re on computers and other digital technology including cellphones, we’re only blinking five to seven times a minute, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
“We don’t blink as much as when we’re speaking to someone in person,” said Dr. Janet Aug, an optometrist at Dartmouth Health’s Cheshire Medical Center.
As a result, we’re getting dry eyes — and that causes pain and discomfort as well as fluctuating vision.
It comes down to tears
“After age 40, we don’t secrete as many tears,” said Dr. Christine Donahue, an optometrist at Manchester-Bedford Eye Center. “Children have beautiful, copious amounts of tears. But once you get into middle age, it can be a problem.”
Blinking redistributes the tear film over your eye, which keeps it lubricated and working. “When people aren’t blinking, tears are just evaporating off the surface,” she said.
So, when you’re on the computer, blink as often as possible — even if it means taping a note to your screen to that says “Blink.” During winter, use humidifiers to reduce the effects of dry indoor air. Use preservative-free artificial tears to moisten your eyes when they feel dry, irritated, scratchy or gritty.
As a result of increased screen time across all ages, “We have many more cases (of dry eye) than we used to,” said Donahue.
Dr. Laura Voicu, an ophthalmologist at Nashua Eye Associates, said many patients complain, “I can’t read for any period of time” or “I’m reading and a second later I can’t see” or “I can read for 20 minutes then I can’t read any more.”
“It’s very common for people to say they can’t read at night,” Voicu said. “Evaporative dry eye gets worse all day long, progressing.”
She recommends artificial tears that contain an oil component. Use a heated compress or heated dry mask to liquefy the oil inside the gland and bring it to the eye surface.
Sometimes eyes become dry, red and irritated because of mites that commonly live in eyelashes and can cause inflammation.
For that, Voicu recommends applying an eyelid cleanser to the margins of the eyelids.
Take breaks
Constant close-up screen time can wreak havoc with distance vision. Rates of nearsightedness are rocketing in children. A study published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that our lack of going outdoors and seeing things far away is becoming a widespread problem. By 2050, half the world’s population is predicted to be nearsighted. In Asia, up to 90% of adults and teens are nearsighted now.
It’s important to take regular breaks and look far away.
“Look down the hallway. Look out the window. Walk to the restroom,” said Donahue at Manchester-Bedford Eye. “Limit screen time as much as you can. And push (the screens) further away from your nose.”
Take breaks from your computer and squeeze your eyes shut, said Aug.
Donahue recommends the 20-20 rule from the American Optometric Association: “Every 20 minutes, look at least 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds. That does a great job of keeping the focusing system fresh and helps it relax and prevents it from becoming stuck in a spasm,” she said.
Limit screen time for kids
Developing eyes are sensitive to long periods of screen time. Young children below age 5 are advised to limit screen time to one hour or less each day, according to recent research. Having more may increase the odds of becoming nearsighted.
Kids under 5 “shouldn’t be having much screen time, with the exception of FaceTiming grandparents who live far away,” said Donahue. Older children “should have a two-hour hard limit on recreational computer use.”
“More near activity in early childhood that is held in the hand or close to the face can be an accelerating factor in nearsightedness,” said Voicu at Nashua Eye. “Far vision activities such as playing outside are protective.”
Protective eyewear
If work or school requires you to be in front of a screen for long periods of time, prescription computer glasses may be a simple way to reduce eye strain. They allow you to focus at a typical computer screen distance, which is 20 to 26 inches from your face.
Multifocal lenses can help you switch quickly between seeing up close, at medium range and far away.
Non-glare screens and lens coatings can make it easier to see, and sunglasses with ultraviolet light protection are important year-round, including while you’re driving.
“You need UV light protection all day long, year-round, even on a cloudy day,” Aug said.
Healthy body, healthy eyes
Everything that you do to be healthy benefits your eyes, she added. Watch your weight, blood pressure and what you eat.
“We use our eyes so much and we only get two of them,” said Donahue. “We really have to try to take care of them.”
Donahue recommends preventative measures to preserve good eyesight.
• Stop smoking. “It’s terrible for cataracts and macular degeneration,” she said.
• Spend time outdoors with sunglasses on. Sunglasses “are like sunscreen lotion for your eyes.”
• Double down on healthy foods. Eat more leafy green vegetables or dark colored fruits and vegetables, including intense orange ones such as carrots, winter squash and sweet potatoes.
• Get regular exercise. This boosts all body systems.
Get regular eye exams
“The eye, when it works great, we’re really happy. But it doesn’t give us a lot of clues that it’s not working properly,” Donahue said.
Get your eyes checked every year or two, especially to “catch asymptomatic diseases that crop up as we get older. The eye is a little secretive,” she said. “We have to look at it through a microscope.”
“If you have any kind of eye problem at all, health insurance will cover it,” said Voicu at Nashua Eye. “Just like going to a primary care provider, the eye is part of the body.”
Health insurance typically does not cover glasses and routine eye exams, unless specifically stated in your plan.
Some people go five to 10 years between eye checkups because they don’t wear glasses — and that’s a big risk.
“There are so many things that are vision threatening or blinding and asymptomatic until the end stage,” Voicu said. “If only we could get more people to have a single touch point with an ophthalmologist or optometrist, we could get clued into risk factors and ongoing conditions and potentially prevent them from progressing.”
