How Our Modern Lifestyle Is Affecting Our Eyes and Vision

The average person's lifestyle today is quite different from what it was 20 or 30 years ago. For instance, consider how many hours you have already spent on screens today.

Many people may exceed more than 8 hours of screen time in a day. This differs from previous generations. Modern lifestyle has transformed how we relax, work, and go to school. It has also silently reshaped our visual demands. 
​

The article below examines how today's modern lifestyle impacts our vision and what you can do to preserve long-term eye health.

A rise in digital eye strain 

If you're like many people in today's world, you spend at least a few hours a day using cell phones, tablets, and computers. In some cases, screen time can take up the majority of your day. All that screen time can affect your eyes.

When you use a digital device, you tend to blink about half as often as you normally do. Less frequent blinking increases the risk of dry eyes and irritation.

Also, keeping your eyes concentrated on a screen can create eye fatigue and digital eye strain, leading to symptoms such as:

• Blurred vision
• Burning eyes
  
• Headaches

​

Decreased visual variety 

Daily life used to require frequent shifts between near and far vision. For instance, your eyes had to frequently alternate between near-focus activities, distance vision, and face-to-face interactions. These continuous distant shifts are protective for the visual system. 

Your eyes are designed to shift focus from near to far objects, adapt to varying light levels, and track moving objects. In modern society, many people spend significant hours in a fixed visual position, staring at a computer screen. Limiting visual diversity can eventually have an adverse impact. This lack of visual variety can cause eye fatigue, difficulty refocusing, dry eyes, and light sensitivity. 
​

Modern indoor living 

Modern environments include climate-controlled systems such as heating and air conditioning. This reduces humidity, which can decrease the tear film and lead to dry eyes.
​
More time spent indoors can also reduce exposure to natural sunlight, which helps regulate our circadian rhythm. Disruptions to the circadian rhythm can affect your sleep-wake cycle and worsen eye fatigue, light sensitivity, and dry eye.

Increase in sedentary lifestyle

In decades past, many jobs required physical activity, and recreational time was often spent outside. Today's work world often includes jobs that require long hours spent on a computer. Between gaming, social media, and countless streaming platforms, recreational activities are also often sedentary.

Inactivity can increase the risk of obesity, metabolic diseases, and high blood pressure. These diseases can affect blood vessels throughout the body, including the eyes.
​

What can you do?

The goal is not to eliminate technology. It's to balance it. There are several ways you can still enjoy the modern lifestyle while protecting your vision, including the options listed below. 

• Take a break from the screens. Go outside, get some fresh air, and go for a walk.
• Adjust screen height to just below eye level to reduce digital eye strain.
• Practice healthy lifestyle habits such as getting regular exercise, eating a well-balanced diet, and getting plenty of rest.
• Reduce screen time about 2 hours before bed to improve sleep quality. 
• Get regular comprehensive eye exams annually or as directed by your physician.

We hope the information above has provided some insight on how modern living can have an impact on vision and what you can do to keep your eyes healthy.

If you would like to schedule an eye appointment with one of our eye doctors, please call our office at 508-746-8600.