How to Help Digitally Fatigued Eyes From the Effects of Digital Devices

This post is sponsored by CooperVision®

Americans spend nearly 22 years on digital devices in their lifetime¹ that adds up to half their waking hours looking at a screen. 79% of us report that our screen time has increased in the past 5 years. 41% of us admit that it has increased “a lot.” 7 out of 10 of us say that the first thing we do every morning is look at a screen.¹

I’ll admit that I spend a lot of time looking at screens every day. I look at the screen on the treadmill that’s in front of me during my favorite fitness class, work from a ridiculous number of windows and browser tabs I have open on my 32” monitor and use my phone throughout the day. We love our digital devices and their ability to help us stay constantly connected to the people and things we care about, but with all the time we’re spending in front of screens, there are growing concerns about their impact on our eyes.

“People all over the world are looking at more devices, for longer periods of time,” says Dr. Michele Andrews, O.D., Senior Director of Professional & Academic Affairs at CooperVision. “With this increase in use comes an increase in symptoms associated with digital eye fatigue. These symptoms are typically described as eye tiredness, eye dryness, blurry vision, or just general eye strain.”

As a long-time contact lens wearer, I make sure to give my eyes a break from the screen. I routinely look out my office window, remind myself to blink, and try to adhere to the 20-20-20 rule by looking at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes. But is it enough? I’ve noticed that my eyes get tired when I wear my contacts late into the night and sometimes wonder if blurry vision is due to tiredness, my eyes changing, or digital eye fatigue.

Digital eye fatigue is defined as the ocular discomfort felt in contact lens wearers after 2 or more hours in front of a digital screen. Symptoms include²:

• Tired eyes
• Dryness in eyes
• Burning
• Eye irritation
• Soreness in eyes
• Eye strain or pain
• Blurry/double vision
• Headaches
• Tearing/watery eyes
• Text moving/floating

Have you ever experienced one or some of these symptoms? If so, you could be suffering from digital eye fatigue!

Digital eye fatigue can affect anyone’s eyes and globally, people worry about how much they use digital devices. Awareness is growing, and people are looking for ways to reduce the effects. In fact, 78% of contact lens wearers are interested in finding a solution to reduce their eye tiredness with their eye doctor.³ Fortunately, as technology advances, there have also been scientific advances in contact lenses to benefit wearers and help.

Introducing CooperVision Biofinity Energys® Contact Lenses

If you’ve been wearing the same type of contact lenses for a long time, think about how much has changed in the last decade when it comes to technology. Now think about the technology that’s in the contacts you’ve been wearing. It is the time to talk to your eye care professional about new technology in lenses that are made specially for your digital lifestyle. CooperVision Biofinity Energys® contact lenses are the first and only contact lenses designed to help with eye tiredness and dryness associated with digital eye fatigue.⁴

Patients who have been wearing Biofinity Energys® lenses report positive experiences. 94% of patients agree that Biofinity Energys lenses help their eyes not feel strained.⁵ 8 out of 10 digital device users agreed Biofinity Energys made their eyes feel less tired.⁶

Finding a contact lens that are the best for you and your eyes starts with an eye exam and a conversation with your eye care professional. Be honest about the role technology plays in your life and how your eyes feel. Many people believe that dealing with symptoms of digital eye fatigue is just a way of life in today’s digital world, but it doesn’t have to be.

If your eye care professional doesn’t bring up digital device use, don’t be afraid to be the one to raise the subject because it’s always important to take a proactive stance when it comes to your health. Your eye care professional might ask these questions but if they don’t, go into their office ready to share your answers to the following to help them determine if you could have digital eye fatigue.

• How often do you experience the symptoms related to digital eye fatigue?
• How many hours per day do you spend using digital devices?
• What do you do to cope with tired, dry eyes after looking at digital devices?

I’m scheduled for my annual eye exam soon and plan to talk to my eye care professional about digital eye fatigue and CooperVision Biofinity Energys® because living in today’s world means I need a contact lens specifically designed for my digital life and to help with some of the symptoms of digital eye fatigue.

This post is written in partnership with CooperVision but all opinions are my own.

1. Survey conducted by OnePoll for CooperVision with a sample of 2,000 Americans in June 2018
2. Coles-Brennan C et al. Management of digital eyestrain, Clin Exp Optom 2018