Photo © iStock.com/JobsonHealthcare

By Sara Bonizio

The alarm on Michael’s smartphone goes off, and he sleepily swipes it into submission. Not quite ready to spring to life yet, he checks the day’s weather forecast, scrolls through Facebook and looks at his stock performance, before putting on a pot of coffee and jumping into the shower. Screen time: 15 minutes.

After climbing aboard the commuter rail for the morning trip to work, he pulls out a tablet and opens up his usual apps and documents (a news site, a spreadsheet due by 3 p.m. and his guilty pleasure, Candy Crush). Screen time: 40 minutes.

At the office he logs his hours at a standing desk in front of a laptop computer and during his short lunch break, he plays Words with Friends and catches up with text messages from his college buddies. Screen time: 6.5 hours.

Reverse commute screen time: 25 minutes (slightly less than the morning commute, due to a pre-happy hour nap).

After-dinner screen time: Two hours on the tablet in front of the TV before heading to bed, where another 15 minutes of smartphone scrolling precede setting the alarm for tomorrow’s wake-up call.

Total screen time: over 10 hours.

In our constantly-connected age, when a routine like this is becoming more and more commonplace, it is almost certain to result in digital eyestrain.

What exactly is digital eyestrain? According to “Hindsight is 20/20/20,” a 2015 report on the subject published by The Vision Council, “Digital eyestrain is the physical discomfort felt after two or more hours in front of a digital screen and is associated with the close to mid-range distance of digital screens, including desktop and laptop computers, tablets, e-readers and cell phones.”

A major cause of digital eyestrain is the blue light emitted by computers, tablets, smartphones and light-emitting diode (LED) lights, and compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). This band of blue-violet light, which is considered potentially harmful to retinal cells, ranges from 415 to 455 nm.

It’s important to note that not all blue light is bad. In fact, our bodies actually need some blue light, specifically blue-turquoise light (blue light with wavelengths of approximately 460 to 485 nanometers) because it can be beneficial if we are exposed to it at the right times. Exposure to blue-turquoise light during the daytime helps to modulate melatonin production in our bodies, which sets our circadian rhythms and regulates our sleeping patterns.

To help patients manage their exposure to blue light, doctors and dispensers should evaluate each patient’s lifestyle, specific occupational requirements and budget in order to determine the best spectacle lenses and coatings. There are many options among the new generation of blue light lenses. These lenses take a sophisticated approach to filtering blue light, using specially-designed transmission curves to block out short wave, or “bad blue light” and let in some long wave, or “good blue light.” These are some of the lens products that block “the blues”:

  • Lenses by BluTech
  • BluTech Lenses by Signet Armorlite
  • Conant UV++
  • Coppertone Polarized Lenses by Vision-Ease Lens
  • Crizal Prevencia No-Glare Lenses by Essilor
  • DuraVision BlueProtect from Zeiss
  • The Happy Lens by Spy Optic
  • Hoya Recharge by Hoya Vision Care
  • iBlu Coat by PFO Global
  • Jins Screen
  • Nikon SeeCoat Blue
  • Retinal Bliss Tech DES Coating by Quantum Innovations
  • Sharper Image TechShield from VSP Optics Group
  • Unity With BluTech Lenses by VSP Optics Group
  • UVARity by Laramy-K Optical

RECOMMENDING THE RIGHT LENS DESIGN
General-purpose progressive lenses are great for everyday near, intermediate and far vision needs of most presbyopes, but they are not ideal for those who use computers extensively. A better option are computer, or “office” lenses that typically feature large, distortion-free viewing areas for computer distance and up-close objects, as well as an intermediate area and distance viewing area. There are many computer lenses on the market; some are specifically designed to combat digital eyestrain.

AdlensFocuss eyewear offers a new option in the occupational category for presbyopes. Its variable-focus design allows the wearer a single-distance viewing experience for up to three prescriptions—near, intermediate and distance—by clicking a hidden dial on the inside of the frame’s temple to switch between them. Standard Focuss lenses include AR (a blue-blocking coating is not currently available).

For presbyopes who prefer bifocals, a good solution is a lens with a large diameter bifocal section at the bottom and middle, specifically for the face-to-computer distance; above the bifocal section, the lens is designed to view objects that are far away. These types of lenses work best when they are fit high.

RESOURCES: SHOW AND TELL

A concrete and comprehensible guideline for easing eyestrain and visual fatigue is the 20/20/20 rule. Patients should be instructed to look away from the computer, at something 20 feet away, for 20 seconds at a time and repeat this every 20 minutes. Patients should also be instructed to blink often, as long hours of prolonged staring at computers equals less blinking, resulting in dry eyes.

Allaboutvision.com, Think About Your Eyes and The Vision Council all offer excellent content on eye health for the general public, making it easier for practice managers to share information by linking to articles on their practice websites and sharing on social media. There are also optical video services that can aid in patient education both in the waiting room, as well as pre- and post- appointment, via e-mailed video sharing (an integrated service available on many Customer Relationship Management platforms utilized by optical practices).

A valuable way to communicate the importance of mitigating the effects of harmful blue light at the point of sale is by employing a diagnostic device during the intake and dispensing procedure. Several manufacturers have developed tools that measure and compare the amount of blue light and UV radiation from different sources (e.g., smartphones and other devices) and also demonstrate to patients how different lens products can protect their eyes.

The times they are a-changin’—and changing fast. Despite overtaxed friends’ and colleagues’ proclamations that they want to go “off the grid” to get away from the stresses of the digital age, it’s far more likely that our lives will become increasingly more “connected,” as countertop iPads replace cookbooks, novels are swapped for e-readers, and school chalkboards go the way of the 8-track. Today’s children are as savvy with an iPad as they are with Legos (if not more so)—rendering the eyecare professional’s intervention more and more crucial to prevent both current and future generations from suffering the effects of eyestrain, conditions and even disease. ■