Skip to main content

As our screen time goes up, experts weigh in on coping with eye strain

If your eyes hurt while reading this story, you aren’t alone. A recent survey found that the amount of time American adults spend on digital devices daily has reached more than 11 hours compared to nine hours in 2016, due to the increasing power of smartphones and the 24/7 news cycle, and eyestrain is a growing problem.

“As more people spend more time on smartphones, they are looking at tiny letters, photos, and videos,” Dr. Norman Shedlo of the Eyecare Center of Maryland said in an interview with Digital Trends. “This makes the focusing demands on the eye very high, leading to eye strain for many people.”

Related Videos

But what can you do to help lessen the uncomfortable effects of eye strain?

Looking Too Closely

Woman working on laptop late at home.
Thana Prasongsin/Getty Images

Digital eye strain, also known as computer vision syndrome, is the discomfort felt in your eyes after looking at a display for too long. It’s often associated with our proximity to screens including desktop and laptop computers, tablets, e-readers, and of course, smartphones.

The survey by Wantlens, a vision company, found that 93.5% of adults spend more than two hours a day using a digital device on average, with 70.1% using them for more than five hours a day, and 77% report experiencing symptoms of digital eye strain. It also found people are looking at their screens at all hours, with 78% of Americans looking at their digital devices the hour before going to sleep. Adults under 30 experience the highest rates of digital eye strain symptoms (73%) compared with other age groups.

The leading cause of digital eye strain is the increased effort required for our eyes to focus on a close task such as using a smartphone, Bhavin Shah, a behavioral optometrist, told Digital Trends. The muscles that move the eyes have to make the eyes turn inwards.

“The smartphone demands our attention in a way that is different from books or paper-based reading,” Shah said. “We can often spend hours on a smartphone without realizing it. When we are engrossed in a visual task, we suppress our blinking mechanism, which can lead to dryness and soreness in the eyes.”

The average person’s typical blink rate is about 18 times a minute, ophthalmologist Yuna Rapoport told Digital Trends in an interview. But whenever we are on any screen, including a smartphone, our blink rate goes down to four-to-six times per minute. This decrease causes dry eyes, irritation, and the feeling of eye strain.

Smartphones increase the problem

An iPhone displaying a high level of screentime.
Omid Armin/Unsplash/Digital Trends Graphic

Younger people are at risk as well. Digital Trends asked Vicky Fischer, an optometrist at the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, about it. She has seen a “massive” increase in damage to children’s vision due to the increased screen use of tablets and mobile phones, as children attended school from home during the pandemic.

“People are increasingly using their devices beyond recreational use, whether for work or extracurricular activities, so they are more susceptible to eye strain.”

Shah also said he’s seen a recent jump in the number of patients complaining of eyestrain. He blames smartphones for their eye issues. Part of the problem is that the number of tasks that we can do on smartphones is growing, he said.

A person using the Apple iPhone 13 Pro.
Dan Baker/ DigitalTrends

“App developers are producing more varied solutions that can be performed on a smartphone and also designing apps that are keeping our attention,” Shah added. “Many social media apps use psychology in their algorithms in order to keep us using their app for longer.”

“As smartphones become more powerful they are replacing the functions of laptops and computers,” Shah said. “Combined with the pandemic, an increase in lockdown and working from home and a decrease in outdoor time, I think many occupations have an increased reliance on computers and smartphones (and increase stress in the current times of uncertainty) which has led to an increase in eye strain.”

Keeping Your Eyes Safe

iPhone SE 2022
Apple

If you find your eyes hurting after long hours looking at screens, what can you do to alleviate the problem? Rapoport gave some helpful suggestions. A good technique to use is the 20-20-20 rule, so every time you’re using a screen, remember to look 20 feet away for 20 seconds, every 20 minutes.

Preventing dry eyes can also help, and he recommends keeping preservative lubricating eye drops by the screen and using some every so often. Another tip is to hold the mobile device below your eyes instead of above, which keeps more of your eyelid covering your cornea and therefore more lubricated.

Shah recommends not to use a device in the dark, as your eyes struggle to adapt to a darkened room with a bright light source such as a smartphone.

“We’re designed to adapt to an even amount of light levels in our environment,” Shah said. “Some people lay on their sides in bed and use their phones in the dark, this has caused a temporary reduction in vision in one eye for some people.”

Limit your time

For Fischer, limiting time on a screen is the thing to do, suggesting you don’t use phones and tablets for more than 1 to 2 hours a day. If you have a hard time sticking to that limit, you might want to consider applications that can control screen time.

However, it’s still tough to do. If you are using a screen for more than 20 minutes at a time without a break, optometrist Molly King told Digital Trends in an interview you should consider a reading glass prescription to help with eye strain or fatigue, and blue light blocking filters to help alleviate eye strain.

If you’re suffering from eye strain, consider booking an appointment with an optometrist to understand if “screen time” glasses would help, and to investigate any issues with dry eyes.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
6 years later, the iPhone X still does one thing better than the iPhone 14 Pro
iPhone X.

I’ve been an iPhone user since the very beginning, starting with the original iPhone. You know, the one with the 3.5-inch display that was perfect at the time, making it super easy to use a phone with one hand? As the years go by, the iPhone — and every other smartphone out there — just get bigger and bigger. We now have phones that with almost 7-inch displays, and honestly, I don’t understand how anyone can comfortably use these giant phones — especially if you have smaller hands!

With the iPhone, we’ve gone from 3.5-inch to 4-inches, then 4.7-inches to 5.8-inches, and now the standard 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch of the iPhone 14/iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Plus/iPhone 14 Pro Max, respectively. I personally use an iPhone 14 Pro as my primary device, and while I have gotten used to the 6.1-inch size over the past few years, I still think it’s too big. In fact, the last perfect size iPhone was the iPhone XS with the 5.8-inch display ... and I really wish Apple would bring it back.
5.8 inches was a perfect middle ground

Read more
I love the Galaxy S23 — here are 5 things the iPhone still does better
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and Apple iPhone 14 Pro

Samsung’s Galaxy S23 has arrived to the masses, and it’s one of the best Android phones you can get right now, especially the S23 Ultra. However, for those who don’t need all of the fancy bells and whistles, like the S Pen and 200MP main camera, the regular S23 is also plenty powerful for the average person, especially if you prefer smaller devices.

I’ve been using the Galaxy S23 for the past few weeks, and so far, my experience has been delightful. I know that it’s still early on in the year, but for me, the S23’s small size is perfect and comfortable. Android also does a lot of things better than iOS, like individual volume controls and notifications, for example. But I am still primarily using my iPhone 14 Pro — despite Apple having some big flaws, such as overprocessing images after you capture them.

Read more
Google Pixel Fold: release date and price rumors, leaked specs, and more
Alleged schematic of Google's Pixel foldable in silver.

Folding smartphones are a staple of the Android smartphone world in 2023. And this year, we expect Google to join the foldable ranks with the long-awaited Google Pixel Fold.

Rumors of the Pixel Fold have existed for a long time, but all signs are pointing to 2023 finally being the year it makes its grand debut. And what a debut it's shaping up to be. From all of the latest renders, hands-on images, specs, and more, here's everything you need to know about the Google Pixel Fold.
Google Pixel Fold: design

Read more