These days, the gaming industry is dominated by video games, virtual reality simulations, and smartphone apps that gamers immerse themselves into worlds that defy normal imagination and physics. A lot of professional video gamers get paid sponsorship checks and earn money through the number of viewers and followers they have. For many people, young and old, gaming is a wonderful past time. Unfortunately, spending too many hours every day on the computer screen or smartphone to play your favorite game can strain your eyes. Keep reading to know the effects of gaming on your vision:
Vision Dangers
The majority of games require players to spend a long time on their device to finish the game. Thus, they force players to stay focused on the screen during the playtime. Unfortunately, this can result in issues such as headaches, nearsightedness, and blurred vision when the player fails to take frequent breaks to relax their eyes. Video gaming for a long time can also lead to symptoms similar to computer vision syndrome or CVS caused by staring at the computer screen for a prolonged period of time without breaks. CVS can include eye irritation, blurry vision, light sensitivity, shoulder pain, and neck pain. CVS is caused by some factors such as glare and low screen contrast that force the eye to work harder than usual.
How to Prevent Eye Strain
Gamers can prevent eye strain by ensuring they have proper lighting to minimize glare, take frequent breaks to rest their eyes, and blink often. Also, they can try specialized lenses to help minimize digital eye strain. If you are a gamer and concerned about your vision, consult with an eye care professional near you. The majority of vision experts recommend taking a break every 20-30 minutes. During the break, try to look off into the distance so that your eyes can rest. Avoid forcing your eyes to rest when you take in the scene as a whole.
Moreover, sitting too close is one of the main culprits. Ensure to position yourself far enough away from the screen, usually, 6-10 feet is a great place to start. But, such distance depends on the screen’s size. The bigger the screen the further you need to be away.
Benefits of Video Gaming
While video gaming comes with risks, it doesn’t mean there is no reward. Did you know that video games can help kids and adults improve in many areas? For instance, video gaming helps improve hand-eye coordination. Playing action-oriented video games can boost visual attention, visual reaction time, and visual ground discrimination. Also, action games improve contrast sensitivity function which refers to the ability to let people differentiate between color shades displayed with a uniform background. Such ability is essential when reading and driving at night. Unfortunately, it tends to fade with age.
With healthy gaming habits, gamers are not ruining their eyesight by playing video games. Both children and adults can enjoy vision benefits from their habit as long as they take breaks and consume eye-healthy foods.
