Smartphones are getting bigger with the display covering almost entire front portion. Displays on the latest smartphones are vibrant, accurate, and beautiful longing us to spend more time in front of it. Nonetheless, we’re ignoring the fact about how much strain we impart to our gifted eyes. Since the smartphone has become inevitable in our daily life, it won’t be viable to say no to smartphones. However, there are some steps which you may follow to keep your eyes happy while viewing.
Here, we’ll go through certain ways by which strain on eyes can be reduced while using smartphones. As a quick disclaimer, by following the below-given habits or actions, it doesn’t mean you can keep yourself in front of a smartphone for eternity or like that. Anything in excess is poisonous, and the mantra should be in our mind always.
That being said, let’s dig into some healthy habits and changes that we could adopt or do for the betterment of our eyes.
Ways to Reduce Eye Strain
1. Hold your smartphone at a distance
The human eye is a marvel of nature. With a range from nearly 1cm and to infinity, it enables us to see this beautiful but challenging world. Although we can perceive an object close to our eyes, there is a term called Near the point of the human eye. It is the minimum distance, at which objects can be seen most distinctly without any strain. Near point of the human eye is normally 25cm.
So, as we know for a human to perceive an object clearly it should be kept at a distance of at least 25cm away from the eye. It holds good in the case of smartphone viewing as well. While looking at your phone, don’t let the display to be so close to your eyes. To be precise, there should be at least 25cm gap between you and the smartphone so that you get a better view without hurting your eyes.
2. Keep the brightness level adequate
Well, human eye perception differs from person to person. So it’s useless to precisely determine a specific set of brightness level which may not hurt the eyes. We recommend our viewers to adjust the brightness in accordance with how your eye/pupil reacts. If you feel that beyond a certain level of brightness your eyes are taking the stress and struggling then lower the brightness down to 5-10% from the current level.
The above case applies to daylight when the ambient light changes quite often. At night time and in a pitch dark room, it’s recommended to keep the brightness low as possible.
3. Turn on Dark Mode or Bluelight filter if available.
Modern smartphones come with special features which should help our eyes to an extent. Lately, we’ve seen many manufacturers promoting Night Mode, Bluelight filter, and similar UI modes to help us read better in the night time and reduce eye strain. Make use of them quite often and whenever necessary.
4. Blink eyes frequently
Most of us are no less than a mannequin while using a smartphone. Our head is likely to turn into a rigid body with literally few or no noticeable motion. While being fully immersed in the smartphone we even forget to take a blink. There is nothing other than this which push the eyes to fatigue within no time.
Hence, whenever doing an essential job with the smartphone do take time time to blink eyes quite often. How much time it’d take for a blink, not even a second isn’t it?
5. Avoid smartphones in bed
We agree; it’s the most comfortable place and position for playing with smartphones. I, you and we all like to chat bedridden. But, the fact is we’re so reluctant of the well-being of eyes by doing so. Ophthalmologists strictly advise not to read even books while lying on the bed. When you read from a supine position, the eyes have to focus upwards, and this less-than-optimal angle can cause severe eye strain if you’re doing this for a prolonged period.
Also, avoid reading prone position it too is not suitable for our body as a whole and can result in neck/back pain. So avoid smartphone on bed altogether.
Apart from the above precautions, there do exists many which you can make a part of your life for better well-being, such as:
- Cleanse your eyes with lukewarm water quite often.
- Consume Vitamin-A rich foods and avoid junks
- Practice eye exercises
- Minimize glare and tweak your text size and contrast for your eye comfort
- and much more little too big things which may help your eyes in the long run.
By following the above practices and making it a part of your life, you’re giving your eyes a fair chance to be healthy as long as you live. Indeed, we never realize the importance of a thing until we lose. We’re fortunate to have healthy eyes, which is invaluable. The ball is now in our court, and it’s our responsibility to make use of it wisely. Stay safe and stay healthy.
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