For those who work in an office related environment, you have probably heard of computer eye strain. For those who don’t, it may surprise you to know that eye strain is the most common office related medical complaint. So what is it?

Eye strain is when your eyes become overworked from staring at something for a long period of time. Although eye strain can happen anywhere- on the road when driving a long distance- at home when watching a marathon of movies- in bed when reading a great book that you cannot put down- the most common place for eye strain to attack is at the office in front of the computer. Eye strain is simply when your eyes become overworked or overtired. Although you may not consciously think you are overworking your eyes when you use the computer, you are. In fact, your eyes have teeny muscles that are working while your type. After a full day of hard work, these muscles get tired which is why your eyes start to strain and hurt.

Could you be suffering from eye strain? Read on to find out what the symptoms of eye strain are, and how to avoid becoming a victim of office related eye strain.

What are the Symptoms of Computer Eye Strain Symptoms?

Below is a list of the most frequent symptoms of eye strain:

• Headaches, which are known as eye strain headaches
• A stiff or sore neck
• Dry or itchy eyes
• Watery eyes
• Blurred vision
• Double vision
• Trouble concentrating on the screen or focusing on other items
• Odd glares from the screen
• Color fringes or color imbalances

Can I Avoid the Computer Eye Strain Symptoms but still work effectively?

Eye strain is bound to happen once in a while if you are focusing on something for too long. However, this does not mean you have to quit your day job. You can take some measures to prevent this from occurring on the job and minimizing your chance of suffering from eye strain.

The first step in your plan of action is to visit an eye doctor. They will be able to tell you if you need corrective lenses, if prescriptive eye drops will help, or if there is an underlying problem causing the eye strain headache and other symptoms. Keeping your eyes in check is the first step to overall health.

Try to blink throughout the day. It sounds silly but when working on a computer, you blink less than five times the normal rate, which can cause some of the symptoms of eye strain like dry eyes, headaches and itchiness.

And, finally, break throughout the day. Give your eyes the rest they deserve by focusing on other tasks sporadically throughout the day. These tasks could be making a phone call, filing away some work, chatting with a co-worker, taking a brief walk around the office, going to the washroom or getting a glass of water. Aim for a five minute break every hour so your eyes can refocus and you can get back to pain-free work.