Smartphones are increasing with the display covering almost the entire front. The latest smartphones displays are vibrant, accurate and beautiful, wanting to spend more time in front of them. However, we overlook the fact of how much tension we put on our gifted eyes. As the smartphone has become inevitable in our daily lives, it will not be possible to say no to smartphones. However, there are some steps you could take to keep your eyes happy while watching.

Here we will look at some ways you can reduce eye strain when using smartphones. As a quick disclaimer, following the practices or actions mentioned below does not mean that you can hold onto a smartphone for eternity or anything like that. Anything over is toxic and the mantra should always be in our mind.

That said, let’s dig into some healthy habits and changes that we could adopt or make to improve our eyes.

Ways to reduce eye strain

1. Keep your smartphone away

The human eye is a wonder of nature. With a radius of nearly 1 cm and up to infinity, it allows us to see this beautiful but challenging world. Although we can detect an object close to our eyes, there is a term called Near the point of the human eye. This is the smallest distance, where objects can be seen most clearly without any effort. The close point of the human eye is usually 25 cm.

Therefore, as we know human beings see an object clearly, it should be kept at least 25 cm away from the eye. It also works well for smart phone viewing. When looking at your phone, don’t let the display get so close to your eyes. To be precise, there should be at least 25cm space between you and the smartphone so that you can get a better view without hurting your eyes.

2. Maintain the right brightness level

Well, the perception of the human eye differs from person to person. It is therefore useless to set a certain set of brightness levels that may not damage the eyes. We advise our viewers to adjust the brightness based on how the eye / pupil responds. If you feel your eyes beyond a certain brightness level are stressful and struggling, lower the brightness to 5-10% of the current level.

The former case applies to daylight when the ambient light changes frequently enough. At night and in a completely dark room, it is recommended to keep brightness as low as possible.

3. Activate dark mode or the blue light filter, if available.

Modern smartphones have special features that are supposed to help our eyes to some degree. Recently, we have seen many manufacturers promote night mode, Bluelight filter, and similar UI modes to help us read better at night and reduce eye strain. Use them often enough and whenever needed.

4. Blink often

Most of us are no more than a dummy using a smartphone. Our head is likely to transform into a rigid body with little or no apparent movement. Despite getting completely immersed in the smartphone, we even forget to blink. There is nothing other than this that causes the eyes to get tired in no time.

So whenever you do essential smartphone work, take time to blink quite often. How long would it take for an instant of an eye, not even a moment, right?

5. Avoid smartphones in bed

We agree; it is the most comfortable place and site to play with smartphones. You, me and we all like to chat in bed. But the truth is, we are so reluctant to the welfare of the eyes by doing so. Ophthalmologists strongly advise not to read books even when lying on the bed. When reading from a supine position, your eyes need to focus upwards and this sub-optimal angle can cause severe strain on your eyes if you do so for an extended period.

Also, try to avoid reading in the prone position, this also does not suit our whole body and can cause neck / back pain. So try to avoid your smartphone in bed altogether.

In addition to the above precautions, there are many things you can do to make your life a better place, such as:

  • Clean your eyes with warm water quite often.
  • Eat foods rich in vitamin A and avoid junk
  • Practice eye exercises
  • Reduce glare and change text size and contrast for eye comfort
  • and many other little things that are too big that can help your eyes in the long run.

By following the above practices and making them a part of your life, you are giving your eyes a good chance to be healthy for as long as you live. In fact, we never realize the importance of a thing until we lose it. We are lucky to have healthy eyes, which is invaluable. The ball is now in our court and it is our responsibility to use it wisely. Stay safe and stay healthy.