Johannesburg – The past year of lockdowns and social distancing has substantially increased the amount of time that people spend online.
A global study by Feel Good Contacts found that countries that spend a large amount of time online include South Africa (10:06), Brazil (10:08) and Colombia (10:07). Japan spends the least time online of any country, on average just four hours and 25 minutes. India was found to have the biggest correlation between screen time and an increased rate of vision loss with more than six hours spent online and 22.7% of the population suffering from deteriorating vision.
China’s hours spent online are few, but rates of vision loss are high, suggesting that screen time is only one of many factors that can damage our vision.
Sharon Copeland – an expert contact lens optician at Feel Good Contacts, an online contact lens retail company based in the UK – said it was not unusual for some people to spend most of their week in front of a screen.
She explained that computer vision syndrome has a number of different symptoms ranging from eye fatigue to headaches.
“If you notice yourself suffering from these it’s really key to get in touch with your optician who can decide whether you need further examinations in order to get a proper diagnosis,” said Copeland.
She said tips for protecting your eyes include taking regular breaks, noting 20/20/20 is the most effective way to remember to take enough breaks to give your eyes a rest.
Every 20 minutes look away from your screen for 20 seconds and focus your eyes on something 20m away.
It is also important to keep your eyes moist, she said. “When you look at a screen for too long, you forget to blink and this makes our eyes dry.”
She said reducing screen brightness was also important to protect the eyes.
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