Saturday, January 25, 2014

Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS): The Problem of Computer Induced Eye Strain

Do you spent more time with your PC? If you spend more than two hours on your PC each day you will experience the most common symptoms like burning and aching eyes due to eye strain and eye tiredness, sensitivity to light, difficulties in focusing eyes, dry eyes due to lack of lubrication, double or blurred vision, headaches, and pain around your shoulder and neck. This kind of computer induced eye strain or the Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) occurs due to constant use of PC. The CVS is the popular occupational health hazard. 

The CVS is really disturbing many active PC users. Your eyes and your focusing are comfortable if the image you are focusing has very well defined edges. If the image maintains good contrast between the symbols / letters and the background then your focusing is comfortable. Your focusing of printed page with white background and contrasting black letters or symbols is more comfortable.  You are experiencing difficulty and eye strain while focusing your PC monitor. Your PC monitor displays are permutation and combination of small or tiny dots or pixels. The images formed by pixels do not have perfectly defined edges. There are frequent variations between the background and the symbols / letters. So you experience focusing difficulty. 

Source:Computer Vision Syndrome(CVS):Causes,Treatments and Prevention By Samantha Kareechy 

If you keep focusing on your monitor the focusing muscles or ciliary body of your eyes soon experience eye fatigues and develop symptoms like burning and aching eyes.  This kind of vision condition is termed as Presbyopia and those affected with presbyopia will experience difficulties in focusing on close objects.

Now let us consider two situations. Your physician is prescribing spectacles for your focusing difficulties. He asks you to read the printed matter in a card (snellan Card) and based on your focusing difficulties he prescribes glasses for you to focus on printed letters and symbols. But there are focusing difficulties for you read letters and symbols on your PC monitor from a distance of twenty inches. 



Now your focusing problems in relation to printed material are corrected with a pair of glasses. But your focusing problems in relation to viewing PC monitor are not corrected properly.  The next time when you visit your eye physician, tell him that you need to work constantly on PC. There is an instrument called PRIO used by eye physicians to diagnose problems related to your computer monitor focusing. This instrument simulates the computer screen for you to focus. He will accurately diagnose your problems on your computer vision and prescribe suitable eye glasses for you to enjoy your PC sessions comfortably with enhanced productivity. 

Reference Sources
  1. All About Vision. Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) http://www.allaboutvision.com/cvs/
  2. Computer Vision Syndrome and Computer Glasses by Wendy Strouse Watt http://www.mdsupport.org/library/cvs.html
  3. Wiki Answers. How do you adjust the PC monitor to reduce eye strain? http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_adjust_the_PC_monitor_to_reduce_eye_strain
Article published in Yahoo Voices on Mar 1, 2009:
Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) : the Problem of Computer Induced Eye Strain
http://voices.yahoo.com/computer-vision-syndrome-cvs-problem-computer-2798164.html