Rebecca Foelber said when she was staring at her laptop’s bright screen while trying to prepare for her women’s studies midterm, she could feel the stress building up ““ and it was not only a result of the impending test.
“I typed up a bunch of essays and sat at my computer for two or three hours at a time on Saturday,” Foelber said. “Eventually, I had to take a break because my eyes were getting so tired. I was worried about the stress on my eyes.”
Foelber, a fourth-year biology student, said she did not take many humanities and social science classes until about a year and a half ago. She said since then she has experienced more strain on her eyes than ever before and is concerned that continually looking at a computer screen will worsen her eyesight.
Concerns like Foelber’s are relatively common among students, but experts say some of these concerns are the result of misinformation about eye health.
But while there is no evidence of long-term health effects, extensive computer use can cause immediate symptoms such as headaches, dry eyes and other problems.
Ralph Levinson, an associate professor of ophthalmology at the Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA, said ophthalmologists have not found any evidence that staring at a computer screen causes physical damage to the eyeball.
“I can say that as a profession, we are not aware of direct damage from directly using computer screens,” Levinson said.
He did note, however, that “absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”
It would be difficult to prove absolutely either way if staring at a computer screen causes damage, since such a study would have to be long-term and involve following patients for 20 or 30 years to assess any changes in vision over time, Levinson said.
“Being exquisitely scientifically honest, I don’t think anybody knows the answer to that question,” he said. “But I am not aware that this causes permanent degeneration or damage.”
Dr. David Kirschen, an optometrist at the Jules Stein Eye Institute, said one problem associated with periods of prolonged computer usage is dry eye, which occurs when the glands around the eye stop producing enough tears to keep the eye’s surface moist.
“For everybody who uses a computer screen, their blink rate goes down by a factor of five, so it’s very common to have dry eyes associated with long-term computer use because you stare at the screen and don’t blink enough,” Kirschen said. “Some people need to use lubricant, like artificial tears, so that there’s no damage from dry eye done to the front of the eye.”
Other students worry that dim lighting will lead to vision loss, as attested to by the fact that desks in Powell Library that lack a working lamp are less frequented.
But this is not true either, said Tara Young, an assistant professor of ophthalmology in the retina division at the Jules Stein Eye Institute.
“There’s a myth that bad lighting while doing homework or any activity worsens your visionÂ. It doesn’t,” Young said.
In other cases, some students recall being told by their parents not to sit too close to the television set, though according to Young, that is also a myth.
A more pressing concern, Young said, is that while sitting in front of a television or computer does not appear to cause direct damage to the eye, what is damaging health-wise is the inactive, stationary lifestyle such activities promote.
“If people are spending all of their time in front of the TV and they’re not outside getting fresh air, or they tend to sit at the computer with a bag of chips, it ties in to the sedentary lifestyle these things encourage,” she said.
“It doesn’t directly damage one’s eyesight, but it does contribute to poor overall physical health, which is tied into cardiovascular health. None of this is proven, but it’s the general consensus.”
Poor cardiovascular health is a risk factor for ocular diseases such as macular degeneration, a disorder in which the central part of the retina needed for sharp vision deteriorates.
People with poor cardiovascular health tend to get much worse macular degeneration than people with good lifestyle habits.
Kirschen suggested that if people do experience eyestrain, they should take breaks every 40 to 45 minutes and make sure that any lights in the room are set so that they don’t reflect onto the computer screen. Additionally, the appropriate position of the lighting is important; the light should come from above and over one’s shoulder.
People experiencing eyestrain should also check to see if it is a minor problem that can be remedied, such as glasses or contacts not fitting properly, or fatigue, Levinson said.
And despite the perception that televisions and computers contribute to deteriorating eyesight, Levinson argues that technology is not as big an influence as some give it credit for.
Students like Foelber need not feel alone during midterm season; Levinson says eyestrain has been around for ages.
“Strain is common. College students were eyestrained way before the computer was invented,” Levinson said. “I’m sure the monks in Ireland copying down manuscripts in the candlelight experienced eyestrain too.”