John Gose, PT, MS, OCS
Director, Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine
Chester County Hospital
Did you know that 80% of what you understand in this world is processed through sight? This sense allows us to zero in on the smallest of written words or the largest of industrial gears with extreme accuracy. When our vision begins to fade, we can improve or correct it with glasses, contacts, exercises or laser surgery. But until we correct it, we may strain our eyes in order to get a clear picture to our brain about the surrounding environment.
Eye strain can lead to many issues in the body including headaches, neck and muscle tension / soreness, upper back pain, and a deteriorating posture. In extreme scenarios, eye strain can cause pinched nerves in the neck or upper chest due to poor posture, resulting in a feeling of pins and needles or numbness in the arms, hands and fingers, and even muscle weakness in those areas.
Eye strain can be caused by several issues. Lighting in your work area can be a result of eye strain since the nerves in your eyes require optimal lighting to easily focus on shapes, sizes, colors, and movement of objects. To prevent this, indoor lighting should be set to approximately 500 lumens. Fortunately, most offices have their lighting set to this standard but it is also important to reduce glare from computer screens and to make sure light does not shine directly into your eyes. Check to make sure your ceiling lights are not shining directly in front of your work space or directly into your eyes through a reflection. Consider a desk lamp rather than relying on overhead lighting.
Computer monitors need to be positioned high enough so that you can hold your head upright. To achieve this, adjust your seat up or down so that the top of your computer is at eye level. The monitor should also be about 28 – 32 inches from your eyes, which is approximately arms-length from your standard sitting position. The font size on computer screens can be small and this distance helps us visualize well.
If you use bifocals, consider using a pair of glasses for computer use only. This will negate the need to arch your neck back to get the line of sight into the reading bifocal. This arching can lead to headaches and muscle soreness if not alleviated. Consider adjusting the font size on your computer screen as well.
If you develop neck and upper back muscle soreness, get in the habit of moving away from your desk for about five minutes for every hour of work. During this time, re-align your posture by sitting or standing upright, perform some simple neck stretching, and close your eyes for a few minutes. Practicing eye exercises can also help, such as looking left then right and up and down repeatedly, 10 times each way. Then alternate those exercises by focusing on one near object and one far object. Make sure the object is in focus before shifting to the other item. These exercises can strengthen the muscles of the eyes and have been shown to improve vision clarity. These suggestions can help you protect your eyes while at work, helping you enjoy more of your time outside of work as well.