7 Steps to Relieve Eye Strain 

For most hours in a day, we are staring at the computer or mobile screen. This has led to eyestrain becomimg one of the leading office-related health issues. According to experts, around 50-90% of computer users experience some degree of eyestrain or other symptoms of computer vision syndrome (CVS) during their work day. Studies show eyestrain and CVS often cause fatigue, decreased productivity and more work errors.

Here are 7 steps to reduce the strain.

Use proper lighting: Computer eyestrain is often caused by excessively bright ambient lighting — either from outdoor sunlight coming in through a window or from harsh interior lighting. For the most comfortable computer use, ambient lighting should be about half as bright as that found in most offices.

Minimise glare: Glare on walls and finished surfaces as well as reflections on the computer screen can also cause computer eyestrain. You may want to install an anti-glare screen on your monitor and, if possible, paint bright white walls a darker color with a matte finish.

Upgrade your display: If you've not already done so, replace your old tube-style monitor (called a cathode ray tube or CRT) with a flat-panel liquid crystal display (LCD), like those on laptop computers. LCD screens are easier on the eyes and usually have an anti-reflective surface. Also, choose a relatively large display. For a desktop computer, select a display that has a diagonal screen size of at least 19 inches.

Adjust the brightness and contrast of your computer screen: For more comfortable viewing, adjust the display settings on your computer so the brightness of the screen is about the same as your work environment. Also, adjust your screen settings to make sure the contrast between the screen background and the on-screen characters is high. And make sure that the text size and color are optimized for the most comfort. Usually, black text on a white background is the best color combination. But other high-contrast, dark-on-light combinations may also be acceptable.

Blink more often: Blinking is very important — it rewets your eyes to keep them moist, comfortable and clear. Studies show that, during computer use, most people blink only about 20% as frequently as they normally do. This greatly increases the risk for dry eyes, blurred vision, eye irritation and fatigue.

Exercise your eyes: Another cause of computer eyestrain is focusing fatigue. Research shows that it's harder for our eyes to maintain focus on computer-generated images than on printed images in a book or magazine. To reduce your risk of focusing fatigue during computer use, look away from your screen or monitor every 20 minutes and gaze at a distant object across the room. Looking far away relaxes the focusing muscles inside your eyes, reducing focusing fatigue.

Consider computer eyewear: For the greatest comfort at your computer, you may benefit from having a customized eyeglasses prescription for your computer work. This is especially true if you normally wear contact lenses, that can become dry and uncomfortable during sustained computer work. Computer glasses are also a good choice if you normally wear eyeglasses with bifocal or progressive lenses. Though these lenses provide excellent vision for most tasks, they don't provide an adequate viewing zone for prolonged computer work