Recently Sarah came in for an eye exam with Dr. Ratinoff.
Sarah works in one of the larger tech companies in the Palo Alto area and is a self-proclaimed social media "junky". When Sarah is not on the computer at work, you can find Sarah on her phone using Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. During her eye exam, the optometrist asked her how her eyes generally feel. Sarah was a little taken aback as she never really looked at things that way, but after a few seconds of contemplation, she realized that at the end of most days her eyes feel pretty worn out. Her optometrist, Dr. Ratinoff asked her some follow-up questions on the symptoms that she was experiencing, and they narrowed it down to digital eye strain also known as computer vision syndrome.
Sarah professed to her optometrist that she probably does not take care of her eyes like she should, and this is the first time she has been told about computer vision syndrome by an optometrist.
Dr. Ratinoff recommended that Sarah starts to take her eye wellness serious and recommended a few changes to her routine.
- She should use a blue light filtering screen protector for her phone. Since she is on the phone so much both during the day and during the night, the blue light protection will reduce the strain and long-term damage that is caused by overexposure to blue light.
- She was prescribed computer glasses, which Dr. Ratinoff recommended she wear during the many hours a day she spends on the computer at work. Computer glasses will reduce strain on the eyes, as they are calibrated for mid-distance vision and feature anti-glare and blue light filtering.
- Finally, her optometrist recommended that she follow the 202020 rule, every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break and look 20 feet in the distance.
Following up with Sarah, she reports that her eyes feel great, and was really thankful that Dr. Ratinoff and the staff at University Optometry took the time to really understand her full vision health and not just rush her through a prescription for glasses or contact lenses.