1. Ciliary Body Fatigue
Whenever you do work that involves using your eyes at a close distance, the ciliary body, which is a muscle that’s found inside the human eye, begins to work overtime. The ciliary body is an important part of the eye, because it is the focusing muscle that allows us to focus on objects that are physically close to us. When we stare or concentrate on a new object, the result is that the muscle contracts and allows the lens of the eye to become thicker, thus increasing the total power of the eye.
Another set of muscles that are affected when you do work using your eyes at a close distance are the extraocular muscles. There are six of these muscles in each eye. Two of these six muscles, called the medial recti, make the eyes converge inward in order to keep the image you’re seeing in focus and prevent double vision. When the medial recti are contracting over an extended period of time, they may cause the eyes to feel strained.
3. Ocular Surface Disease
When we’re concentrating on something for an extended period of time, such as when we’re reading a book, our blink rate slows down substantially. Seeing as blinking is a function that lubricates the eye, the eye strain that you’re feeling might be down to a lack of lubrication. It is tears that lubricate the eye – they create a film on it. An example of an ocular surface disease is conjunctivitis, which is caused by a bacterial or viral infection.
It’s often the case that those with a minor vision problem are either completely unaware of it, or fail to get it corrected as they should do. Referring to the latter scenario, the tendency is for people to overcompensate for their vision deficiency by doing things such as squinting or focusing hard. The by-product of trying to overcompensate is an accommodative spasm, which involves the eye’s ciliary muscle remaining in a constant state of contraction, thus creating the sensation of eye strain.
5. Glare
Glare is a visual phenomenon that exists as a result of excessive brightness. Examples of glare are when the sun is shining so brightly through your windshield that you can barely see ahead of you, or working in an office with powerful, fluorescent lighting. In fact, lighting can actually hinder the productivity of employees if it’s not well-thought out in an office space. All you can do to prevent glare is keep a good pair of sunglasses handy for when you’re driving, or insist on working in the best-lit space you can at your workplace.
At certain times of year, it’s almost inevitable that we have to either heat up or cool down our homes in order to feel comfortable. This means that we infuse our living spaces with dry, moving air from a fan, heater or air conditioning system, which has a detrimental effect on the lubrication of our eyes. To counter the effect of the aforementioned devices, you can try plugging in a humidifier to add moisture back into the air. If you smoke, you should seriously consider quitting.
7. Extended exposure to digital device screens
You’ve probably heard this one loads of times before, but if you work for long hours at a computer, use the 20-20-20 rule to ensure that your eyes don’t become strained – every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break and look at something 20 feet away. Take a few minutes away from your screen whenever possible.
Content source: VeryWell
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