Lately, it seems challenging to find someone who isn't on a smartphone. Smart phones, tablets and handheld devices ensure our access to our friends, family and work no matter where we are. Nevertheless a lot of people tend to hold their handheld devices right in front of their eyes. If you do a lot of reading off small screens, it can be hard on your eyes.
It's a challenge for your eyes to focus on the small images and text you see on the tiny screens of smartphones. Eventually, research shows this may lead to difficulty with focus and vision, especially if you already use vision correction, like glasses or lenses. If you already wear glasses, holding a device too close to your face will make it a real challenge for your eyes to correct for distance. Eventually, these difficulties can result in eyestrain and headaches.
In addition to this, too much screen time can reduce your blink rate, and that can cause dry eyes and blurry vision.
But we can't all just stop using our phones. So what's the solution? In order to prevent eyestrain and blurred vision caused by our smartphones and tablets, it's best to make the text bigger, and hold the screen further away from your face. Also, don't use your phone too much! If you've been on it a while, allow your eyes to have a little time away from the screen. And after that, if you still experience eyestrain, you might have presbyopia, and need glasses to correct that. Come see us for an exam, if this is something you're experiencing. Being smart about your smartphone will protect your eyes.