Your eyes go through a lot every day, especially at work. An office environment can be tough on your vision, often involving the use of different vision zones, as well as long hours of focusing on one thing such as a computer screen or reading documents.
Your vision is often pushed to its limits at work, which can result in eye strain or eye fatigue. Eye strain or fatigue can manifest itself in many different ways, including headaches, itchy eyes, dry or watery eyes and even blurred vision. This type of vision fatigue can often come from looking at pixelated screens.
There are many different ways to look after your vision in the office, including wearing glasses for work. Here we look at the different ways to improve your vision in the office.
Looking after your eyes at work
There are many factors in an office environment that can negatively impact your vision. Most importantly, your workspace should be set up properly in order to make your day as comfortable as possible. This includes making sure your computer screen is about an arm’s length away from your eyes. The screen itself should be in an optimal position for your posture and vision; it is often recommended that your eye line falls around 2-3 inches below the top of your monitor.
The lighting in your office or similar work environment can often cause glare, which can be very uncomfortable for your eyes. Glare can come from your computer screen, overhead lighting or windows. Be sure to adjust lighting levels to try and reduce this and reposition yourself so that windows do not create background glare.
It’s important to give your eyes a break, no matter how busy you are at work. The 20-20-20 rule is a popular one; looking at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds, every 20 minutes. This can help to prevent eye strain.
Both at work and within the rest of your lifestyle, it’s key that you pick up some healthy habits. Your diet can play a huge role in your eye health; omega-3 and lutein are key nutrients to maintain healthy vision. Smoking can be detrimental to your eye health and may increase your risk of developing age-related macular degeneration and cataracts, you can reduce this risk by quitting or not starting smoking.
Wearing the right glasses
Sometimes, wearing glasses is the best way to improve your vision; especially if you suffer from a refractive error like hyperopia, where you may struggle to see things close up.
However, modern lenses are now better equipped to meet the needs of a modern lifestyle, including digitally-driven lifestyles. You can now access lens solutions that will actively reduce or prevent the risk of eye strain, by ensuring visual comfort and preventing your eyes from having to work too hard during the day.
Whether you need a prescription or not, you could benefit from wearing lenses for the use of digital screens. Not only could you benefit from sharper vision, but it can make it easier for your eyes to focus on pixelated screens. This can have a knock-on effect and reduce muscle strain in your neck or shoulders as you experience improved visual and postural comfort.
