The Healthy Skeptic: Eyedrops for computer vision syndrome
After a long day of staring at a computer at work, many people relax by staring at a different computer at home. Between spreadsheets and Facebook, our eyes are seeing more pixels than ever before.
If you spend a lot of time in front of a computer, your eyes may start complaining. They can feel achy and tired, and the words on the screen might begin to seem a little blurry. Your eyes might also dry out, partly because people transfixed by a computer screen tend to blink about a third as often as people looking at the real world.
Optometrists have an apt name for this group of symptoms: computer vision syndrome. Jim Sheedy, director of optometry research at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore., and a fellow of the American Optometric Assn., estimates that one in six eye exam patients have at least some computer-related complaints.
With so many potential customers out there, it’s no wonder that a few companies offer drops specifically to soothe the eyes of the computer set. Similasan sells its Computer Eye Relief drops at Whole Foods and other health food outlets across the country. A 0.33-ounce bottle costs about $10. The product contains saline along with homeopathic (heavily diluted) ingredients such as poison hemlock and “natrum muriaticum,” a fancy term for table salt. Users are instructed to place two to three drops in each eye as needed.
Bausch & Lomb has another option for computer users: Dry Eye Environmental Lubricant eyedrops. These drops, marketed as a treatment for computer vision syndrome, come in a 0.5-ounce bottle that costs about $7. No homeopathy here, just saline with a little bit of glycerin for lubrication. Users are instructed to place one or two drops in the eyes as needed.
Claims:
The Similasan website says that “Computer Eye Relief drops stimulate the eye’s natural ability to relieve eye strain due to intense computer work.” The site also says that the product uses “homeopathic principles” to relieve symptoms of eye fatigue such as aches, tiredness, blurry vision, redness and sensitivity to light.
The Bausch & Lomb site says that its Dry Eye Environmental Lubricant drops provide “fast relief” for eyes irritated by “prolonged computer use.”
Bottom line:
At home or in the workplace or anywhere else, eyedrops containing glycerin or another lubricant, such as Bausch & Lomb’s Dry Eye Environmental Lubricant, can definitely help bring temporary relief to dry eyes, Sheedy says. However, he adds, dryness is just one of the symptoms of computer vision syndrome. Drops can’t relieve all of the symptoms, and they can’t prevent the syndrome in the first place. In short, people with computer-related eyestrain should have bigger priorities than finding the right eyedrops. “There’s no real downside to trying eyedrops,” he says. “But I never recommend them as a first line of treatment.”
It’s also important to realize that all eyedrops aren’t created equal, says Jeffrey Anshel, a fellow of the American Optometric Assn. who has a private practice in Carlsbad, Calif. Anshel is president of the Optometric Nutrition Society. The Bausch & Lomb drops would be helpful for dryness and irritation, he says, but the value of Similasan’s Computer Eye Relief is uncertain. The product doesn’t have a proven lubricant, he says, and the homeopathic ingredients have never been tested for eye problems. “There’s no science behind their claims,” he says.
Melissa Mursch, Similasan product manager, says that the ingredients in Computer Eye Relief “are accepted by the homeopathic community for providing relief for symptoms associated with eye strain.” However, a search of a medical database found no studies of homeopathic treatments for eye strain or any other eye problem.
Anshel has one other important caveat for eyedrop users: “Avoid the kind that promises to ‘get the red out.’ It’s terrible.” (He didn’t want to name the brand, but the Healthy Skeptic has no such reservations: Visine.) According to a report from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, tetrahydrozoline, the active ingredient in Visine and Visine Advanced Relief, can actually cause redness and irritation in the eyes.
Sheedy and Anshel agree that eyedrops will bring only brief, stopgap relief to anyone suffering from computer vision syndrome. To address the problem, they say, you have to change the way you look at computers. For one thing, Sheedy says, the top of the monitor should be no higher than eye level. That will force you to look downward at your screen, leaving a relatively small surface of your eyeball exposed to drying air.
Reducing glare from overhead lights or open windows is another important step. Sheedy recommends a test: The next time you’re sitting in front of your computer, hold your hand over your eyes like a visor. If you get an immediate sense of relief, there’s likely too much glare.
If you have trouble seeing your screen, Anshel says you probably need more than eyedrops. “You need to get checked out for new glasses,” he says.
Of course, there’s another solution for computer-addled eyes: Looking at something else for a while.
