Every gamer has been in the situation where you decide to have one last game before bed and before you know it 3 hours has passed and you wonder where the hell all the time went! People spend hours playing computer games and if you consider yourself to be in this bracket, then you are almost certain to have some of the following issues:
Red puffy eyes: Staring at the screen all night for one thing means you are probably not getting enough sleep which will result in puffy bags under the eyes. As well as this, your eyes are likely to be red and sore as whilst gaming. The main reason for this is that your concentration levels are so high that you don’t blink anywhere near as often as your should do. We blink about half as often as we normally do whilst staring at a computer screen meaning our eyes are not getting sufficient oxygen resulting in redness.
Stinging and sore eyes: Your eyes will be like this as a result if insufficient blinking. Blinking brings fresh oxygen rich tears over your eyes and clears away any debris that may have formed on the surface of your eyes.
Headaches: Headaches are a very common complaint of gamers and they are most likely to affect the front and side of your head.
Eye strain: Holding your focus on the computer screen for hours on end requires the muscles in your eyes to be continually in overdrive. These muscles get tired and start aching and hence your get eye strain.
OK so how do I reduce these symptoms?
Read the following tips and try to follow at least a few of them!
• Take a break: I know this may seem impossible at the time but this really is the best thing you can do. It gives all the muscles in your eyes a chance to take a breather!
• Keep the lights on: Playing on the computer with the light off exerts extra strain on the muscles in your eyes.
• Make sure you don’t need glasses: One of the biggest reasons for getting eye strain is the fact that you may need glasses or the glasses you are wearing may not be the correct power. Ensure you have regular eye tests to assess your vision.
• Sit directly in front of the screen: Make sure you don’t sit to the side of the computer screen as it increases the amount of reflections and glare off the screen which can cause headaches.
• Blink regularly: When you are immersed in a computer game you don’t blink anywhere as near as often as you should which is likely to cause your eyes to sting and go red.
I hope you find this advice helpful and you never know following it may actually improve your gaming ability! This guest post was written by Tim an Optometrist from the UK and also a fellow gamer! Other topics he likes to write about include cosmetic surgery and botox prices.
