Virtual learning and working from home aren’t stopping anytime soon, which means your daily screen time is higher than usual. For adults, you can remind yourself to take a break by looking into the distance, talking a walk, every 20 minutes. If your eyes feel dry and scratchy, using artificial tears intermittently throughout the day can help. For children, Dr. Yoshihiro Yonekawa comments on how continuous virtual classes can be fatiguing and how intense and prolonged near work might lead to progression of near-sightedness. Dr. Yonekawa recommends, “Make sure your kids take regular breaks, and spend as much time outside as possible. Wearing blue light blocking glasses likely neither helps nor hurts, and should not be a substitute for these recommendations.”
Dr. Sunir Garg has said that the phenomenon of blue light blocking glasses, does not necessarily protect your eyes from harmful rays, “When we look at the screen, our eyes often feel tired. This is not from blue light. We get much more blue light from sunlight. Our eyes feel tired because we aren’t moving them around so they get fatigued similar to the way you feel after you’ve been standing in one position for a while. They also dry out. Using lubricating eye drops, and a humidifier in the cooler months, often helps.”
Our physicians are committed to protecting you and your children’s eye health.
