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Dec 3 / 2021

Computer visual syndrome

Humans, for most of their evolutionary history, have predominantly used distant vision. Close vision was used at specific moments, such as eating, social relationships, etc. Rarely did you spend a long time observing objects at about 40 or 50 centimeters.

The use of data display screens (PVD) has become in recent years a daily activity that can involve, mainly in office workers and students, many hours of dedication causing the computer syndrome.

This facilitates the appearance of eye discomfort, attributed by the same users to the use of the computer, thus, phrases such as "the computer gives me a headache", "my eyes get irritated", etc., are commonly heard.

There is actually a set of symptoms that sometimes appear associated with the use of PVD at work, and that are known as computer visual syndrome (OVS). The symptoms are usually minor, but they are annoying and worrisome for the user. They basically consist of eye irritation, foreign body sensation, burning, itching, heaviness of the eyelids, headache, sensitivity to light, blurred vision ...

These symptoms occur mainly for two reasons:

1. Accommodation stress

  • The image that originates from a PVD requires greater visual effort to focus properly, so the muscles responsible for visual focus, which are inside the eyeball, are overloaded.
  • On the other hand, while working with PVD, the user is continually switching the view from the documents and the keyboard to the screen, which are located at different distances and heights. This means that the focus distance has to be continuously changed and a great accommodation effort is made after several hours of work.

2. destabilization of the tear film

  • The tear film is a thin layer that covers and protects the eye, and under normal conditions it is continually rebuilt through the production of tears together with the normal blink reflex. With continued use of the computer, the tear film is destabilized by:
  • The decrease in the frequency and amplitude of blinking that occurs in types of work that, such as the use of PVD, require visual attention.
  • The presence of different visual distances in the eye-computer-keyboard-paper work environment that alter the opening of the eyelids: the gaze, in normal reading, is done looking a little down from the horizontal, so that the opening of the eye is approximately 1 cm2. When viewed from the front, as in the case of PVD, this opening increases to about 2 cm2, increasing the evaporation surface of the tear, and producing a greater desiccation of the ocular surface.

    There are favorable factors for the appearance of these symptoms, such as:

  • Environmental factors: it has been shown that physical factors such as heat, low humidity, tobacco smoke, or air currents contribute to accelerate tear evaporation.
  • Ocular factors: the tear film alteration process with the use of PVD occurs even in healthy subjects, but it is much more intense in those people who present predisposing ocular factors, such as dry eye, or are contact lens wearers.
  • Individual factors: people who habitually use bifocal lenses or reading glasses sometimes suffer specific problems when working with the computer, since they have difficulty adapting their vision to the intermediate distance to which the PVD is located.

    • Physiological states such as pregnancy or may lead to dry eyes.

    On the other hand, there are medications (anxiolytics, antihistamines, antihypertensives) that can cause dry eyes among their side effects.

    In addition, in women, the use of makeup on the edge of the eyelid can also alter the composition of the tear film.

    How to prevent computer vision syndrome

    To combat this visual problem, first of all we must make sure that we do not have any vision defects that can be corrected with glasses. For this, it is important to visit the ophthalmologist periodically.

    There are a number of easy tips to keep in mind to avoid these problems as much as possible:

    • The computer screen has to be at the same height or somewhat lower than our eyes.
    • The position in the chair must be upright and the legs must form an angle of 90º.
    • Perform micropauses, which are stops of no more than 2 minutes and no less than 30 seconds, which will be done during the working day by performing specific eye exercises:
      • Every so often, blink consciously, slowly and making a full eye scan.
      • Practice exercises to relax the muscles involved in the accommodation process:
      • Fix your eyes on the horizon for a few seconds.
      • Toggle your view between a distant and a near object several times.
      • With your eyes closed, move your eyeballs several times in all directions.

    (Updated at Apr 14 / 2024)

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