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Have you ever noticed that your eyes tend to burn when you return to your desk after lunch? Do you feel like your eyes are constantly red and sore from staring at your screen for so long? If you experience anything from these two examples and suffer from eye pain, it’s actually very normal and can thankfully be fixed with a few simple tips.
The distance between your eyes and computer screen will alter your lifestyle in your current work environment for good. A key point they mentioned is the concept of accommodation. The accommodation between your eye and your screen; it’s important to know that your eye actually changes shape depending on what it’s focusing on at the time. RPA, also known as resting point accommodation, is the “sweet spot” of where your eye and the rest of your body is most comfortable, which is between 20 to 40 inches depending on your own height and the type of office furniture you are using. While this works for most individuals, it’s up to you to figure out the best resting point for your own eyes.
If you decide to neglect finding the right distance of your screen for your work environment, you’ll be subject to various health risks that include, but aren’t limited to:
Loss of height
Yes, this can actually happen! When you constantly have bad posture day in and day out, your muscles and bodily tissue will start to compress, making healthy growth unobtainable, and even forcing your body to shrink in the process. A study conducted by Wellness Inc has shown that this kind of stress on the vertebra can cause connective disks to completely disappear over time, making your spine move closer together, making you lose height and muscle strength. A good way to prevent this is to have a good ergonomic desk set up so you can avoid any future health problems.
Joint stress
Your body is full of tissue and within every joint of your body, there is a muscle tissue that is protecting you from very serious pain and damage. When you lean in unnatural ways and constantly put stress on your joints by sitting in awkward positions, you’ll find that slowly but surely your joint tissue will become weaker and weaker, leaving you with joint stress permanently. Simply adjusting your screen distance to a comfortable position will help you avoid this hardship!
Keeping up with exercise can benefit you from any joint stress that you will eventually develop. Its always good to keep active throughout the day, giving your joints some mobility. If you’re constantly at your desk, perhaps getting an under desk cycling bike pedal so you can help you with staying active.
Permanent spine misalignment
This is the worst case scenario when it comes to having bad posture due to your working environment. This issue can not be corrected without severe risks involved. If your spine is constantly dealing with you leaning forward to see your screen, or to the side to makeup for glare on your angled screen, you could end up having to deal with that pain for the rest of your life.
Read more on how back pain and exercises you can do at your desk.
Not only does the distance between your eyes and your computer screen greatly affect how you feel throughout the day, it can also cause eye irritation and strain, as well as posture issues that can lead to sore joints, back, and neck. Make sure that your computer monitor is at the perfect position, you should experiment with placements anywhere from 20 to 40 inches from your eyes to be able to find what is most comfortable for you. You shouldn’t feel any discomfort or awkwardness in how you’re sitting at your desk, not only can that cause permanent damage to your body over time, but it will greatly impact the amount of quality work you’re able to produce.
Final Thoughts
The importance of this change will be very noticeable as soon as you implement it into your daily work routine. Soon enough you’ll notice your eyes aren’t straining as much and that your body isn’t sore just from looking at your computer screen. Avoid leaning in any specific direction, keep your body straight and in a neutral position, soon enough your whole body will react much more positively to these ergonomic changes that make a world of difference.