Eye Health and the Office

There is a lot of talk about Health Benefits and Ergonomic Office Furniture, but because of the nature of living in such a technological age, people don’t like to talk about the strain screens can cause on the eyes.

While many of us are forced to look at a monitor or phone for work, there are things we can do to prevent eyestrain and promote healthy eyes.

What Causes Eyestrain

Monitors are one of the most difficult obstacles for our eyes and with ever-increasing screen time, we have to be prepared to prevent the strain it causes more than ever.

While humans naturally blink at least 15x per minute, this encourages eye health because it promotes tear production. This keeps the eyes moist and prevents irritation. When you bring a screen into the picture, eyes will blink at least half as often, restricting the tear creation.

Other factors that also strain eyes include the contrast of colors such as the black text on the white background, the glare that the backlight creates and flickering of lights.

How To Prevent Eyestrain

Three simple adjustments to your day can help prevent future eyestrain and they are pretty easy to implement.

Good Quality Lighting

First and foremost, when planning your office setup, it is ideal to position all workplace furniture under good quality lighting. In combination with under cabinet lighting and adjusting the brightness of the monitor, you should have more than ideal lighting for your eyes.

Give Your Eyes A Break

Just like your legs need a stretch, your eyes need a chance to readjust. A great routine to get in the habit of is taking a 20-second break every 20 minutes to look approximately 20 feet away. Just like your muscles, your eyes need to be both contracted and stretched.

Distance Your Eyes

People have a bad habit of leaning into the screen as they become deep in thought. Not only does this create bad posture and back pain, but it is also bad for eye health. By making sure your monitor is a safe distance from your eyes, you can minimize eye strain. There are some great furniture items that help with distancing your screen. The first is an adjustable monitor arm. This way you can position the arm slightly below eye level and far enough away from your face to keep your eyes healthy. As well with a height adjustable desk, you can raise the surface to a standing position. People are less inclined to lean into the screen or onto the desk in that stance.

While eye strain is a real problem, there are really simple solutions to implement as preventative maintenance for your eyes.