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Nov 23, 2005 9:31 am US/Mountain
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Lenses Can Correct Computer Vision Syndrome
by Suzanne McCarroll
DENVER (CBS4) ―
Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) is affecting more and more people across the world as computers become a bigger part of everyday life.
Carpel Tunnel used to be the big computer worry. Now eyes are paying the price.
Many people have symptoms of CVS but don't even know there's a name for it.
CVS starts as eyestrain, then people have trouble focusing when they look away from the computer screen.
Doctors and optometrists are offering help. Some experts are now using computer screens to test patients' vision.
"Studies have shown our eyes focus differently when we're looking at a computer image versus a black on white image," Dr. Robert Tryggestad, an optometrist said.
Steven Mann is a software programmer who spends six to eight hours a day looking at a computer screen.
"When I'm looking straight at it, it would be more clear than out on the side here," Mann said.
Mann suffers from CVS.
"When I'd get up to walk around after that, the rest of the world was out of focus because I'd been concentrating so hard on the screen," Mann said.
He didn't have the headaches and neck-aches that CVS can cause in come people.
"I think half my patients work on computers five to eight hours a day so it's becoming an increasing problem," Tryggestad said.
The new Prio System tests eyes on a computer and then prescribes lenses that allow eyes to better focus on the entire computer screen. The lenses give greater peripheral vision.
"Now the whole thing is in focus and area with papers are in focus also," Mann said after getting new lenses.
His eyes were working better and felling less tired at the end of the day. He's taking fewer breaks from his computer.
"Hopefully I'm a little bit more productive than I was before," Mann said.
Experts offer a few more tips about CVS and working at a computer screen.
Give your eyes a break every 15 minutes and look away from the computer, preferably across the room or out a window.
The monitor should be at an angle 10 to 15 degrees below eye level and tilted away from a person at the top.
Lighting is also important. It can't be too bright.
Doctors also said make sure to have eyes checked regularly. And make sure the doctor or optometrists have the right equipment to check for CVS.
Additional Resources
- For more information, call Dr. Robert Tryggestad, OD at (303) 363-1486.
(Copyright © MMV CBS Television Stations, Inc.)