8 Tips to Prevent Dry Eye when You're Gaming

8 things to do to prevent dry eye when you are gaming:

1. Make sure that your screen height is sensible, if it is too high your eyes will be more open than usual which promotes more tear evaporation.

2. Make sure that you are NOT sitting directly facing an air current. A blow heater, air conditioning or even a draft from a window will quickly dry eyes that aren't blinking much.

3. Set a timer so that you are reminded to blink. Bear in mind that we should be blinking 15 times per 3 mins at least. Set a timer on your phone or get some freeware to remind you to blink.

4. Use preservative-free artificial tears at regular intervals.

5. Invest in a humidifier for your gaming room.

6. You might want to try out moisture chamber glasses.

7. Use the natural breaks in the game to pause and blink for 20 seconds.

8. Take a break every 20 minutes and blink 20 times in 20 secs while looking into the distance. 

For some people the dry eye has gone too far and they need specialist treatment, like prescription eye drops or Intense Pulsed Light treatments. 

Gaming Eyes can often be minimised by following the steps above and by practicing good eye hygiene. If your eyes continue to bother you at the end of the day, however, they are telling you something so you may want to consider cutting back the hours you spend gaming and see a Dry Eye Specialist if the pain and irritation continues. 

An Eye for Gaming

Playing video games calls for extreme concentration. In order to succeed you need to stay constantly alert and vigilant...after all getting sniped whilst playing Call of Duty usually occurs within a 'blink of an eye'. As such, serious gamers (and other people who spend long periods of time concentrating on a screen or monitor) can often go minutes without blinking.  Whilst this is good for gaming, unfortunately, it’s not so good for your eyes. 

An average person blinks around once every 12 seconds. Some gamers can go minutes without blinking. This soon has an impact on your eyes. People often experience 'Gaming Eyes'  after prolonged screen use. They complain of sore, bloodshot, dry eyes, often with headaches and back and/or neck pain and occasional blurred or double vision. The medical term for this is Computer Vision Syndrome and at The Dry Eye Centre we are seeing an increasing number of patients suffering Dry Eye as a result of prolonged screen use. 

If you're experiencing any of the above symptoms after spending long periods of time at work or play staring at a digital monitor, we would recommend having an assessment done by a Dry Eye Specialist. Without treatment, mild symptoms can growing increasingly worse and there are usually simple treatment(s) available to treat both the cause and symptoms you experience.