eyestrain

eyestrain

fatigue or irritation of the eyes, resulting from excessive use, as from prolonged reading of small print, or uncorrected defects of vision

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Eyestrain

 

or asthenopia, a state characterized by a feeling of heaviness in the eyes, a dull pain in the forehead and temples (sometimes expressed as a headache), difficulty in working, diffuseness and indistinctness of previously distinct contours of objects (for example, letters in a text), and a need to close the eyes and rest them.

There are two types of eyestrain: accommodative and muscular. Accommodative eyestrain (overstrain of the accommodation muscle) develops primarily in young people suffering from hyperopia when there is need to study an object at close range for a long time. To avoid eyestrain the hyperopia must be corrected with eyeglasses, and the person must take periodic breaks from work and look into the distance. Analogous phenomena of eyestrain may be observed with uncorrected astigmatism of the eye.

Muscular eyestrain develops predominantly with uncorrected myopia and is caused by a relative weakness of the interior straight muscles of the eye, which effect convergence of the visual lines of both eyes on an observed object; upon closing one eye, all unpleasant sensations disappear. To pre-vent this form of eyestrain the myopia must be corrected, sometimes with the use of prismatic glasses (spheroprismatic lenses), and the person must take periodic breaks from work.

M. L. KRASNOV

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

computer vision syndrome

A variety of problems related to prolonged viewing of a computer or mobile screen. Short term effects include dry eyes, blurred vision, mild headaches and eye fatigue. Long term effects include migraines and visual epilepsy. Some solutions are to keep reflections and glare to a minimum and to provide a non-fluorescent, uniform light source. Special lamps are available that maintain the proper light around the monitor and generate light at much higher frequencies than regular light bulbs.

The 20-20-20 Rule
A worthwhile rule of thumb is 20-20-20: look into the distance at least 20 feet for 20 seconds after every 20 minutes of computer, tablet or smartphone use. See medical conditions.

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