Video Games and the Eyes

Gamers, have your eyes ever hurt after playing for a prolonged amount of time? Now, I’m not talking about being sleepy and those eyes closing while playing. I’m talking about your eyes physically hurting from staring at the screen. I personally have not really had too much of an issue with this. At least, none that have caused me any problems in my day to day life. Still some gamers have had issues with their eyes that we should all be aware about and we should know how to prevent and treat these eye issues.

Two issues we run into as gamers are our ability to focus on objects and eye irritation.

Focusing

The first issue we look at is how we focus while playing video games. Looking at a TV or computer monitor is very different on our eyes than reading a book. A book is easy on the eyes, given you have enough light. Video Games however, are not at all easy on the eyes. This is due to having a three dimensional world and having many different objects to focus on while trying to move through said video game world. This focusing on the screen tends to create a “locked in” type of effect on the eyes. Think about it, unless you’re playing Mario on the SNES, you’ve probably had to deal with this. Focusing on the screen for hours on end, what do you do when you leave your TV? You walk around, squint and blink when you try to focus on something? This is what happens when you stare a TV or computer screen for a little too long.

Eye Irritation

One thing you don’t really think about while your ravaging away on other players in a virtual world, is how many times you blink while playing. I’ll let you know right now, it’s less than you think. When we are in the zone, your eyes are trained on whatever you are trying to accomplish, and you don’t blink as much.1 This lack of blinking restricts the amount of moisture that gets to your eyes, and this causes irritation. Irritation of the eyes can be as simple as dry red eyes, but can cause things like double vision, blurry vision, and headaches.

Now, I’m sure you're all with me and love to watch while you play. So, there are a few things you can do to help protect your eyes.

• Take breaks - yes yes, I know. You never want to stop in the middle of pawning noobs, or break in the middle of a quest, but sometimes a short break can mean the world to your eyes. It gives them a chance to rest from the rapid refocusing of multiple objects and lets them get much needed moisture from regular blinking.
• Be positioned far enough from your TV or monitor - Your mother has been telling you since you were little to not sit so close to the TV, so don’t start doing it now. This can hurt your eyes as well as your neck and back. We talked about this in (blog link 5).
• Reduce the glare2 - No one likes glare, especially your eyes. Look for the light sources that reflect in your TV and try to position yourself, where the glare won’t affect you. This will help reduce the amount of strain you put on your eyes to see past the glare.

Our eyes are important to us gamers, well I’m sure everyone’s eyes are important to them, but we sort of kind of use them alot. Like I’ve said before. Don’t let something you love hurt you.Take care of those beautiful eyeballs and take preventative measures to ensure that you can enjoy the things you love to do so much. Until next time gamers, game safe!

References

1  Bedinghaus, T. (2016, April 16). Is your computer hurting your eyes? Retrieved June 06, 2016, from https://www.verywell.com/computer-vision-syndrome-3421987

2 How Do Video Games Affect Your Vision? (2013). Retrieved June 06, 2016, from http://www.rebuildyourvision.com/blog/vision-conditions/computer-vision-syndrome/how-do-video-games-affect-your-vision/