Optometrist Puts Focus on Fatigue From Computers
Personal--and impersonal--computers, like rock ‘n’ roll, are here to stay. So, unfortunately is the increased likelihood of computer-related health complaints: headaches, blurry vision, eye fatigue, and itching and burning eyes.
While the handy little word-processing machines are replacing typewriters because of their flexibility, few managers have adjusted office environments to the needs of video technology. A resulting rise in cases of eye fatigue by computer users is not surprising, according to Anthony Hutchinson, an optometrist practicing here who has written a book for VDT (video display terminal) users, “Computer Eye-Stress, How to Avoid it; How to Alleviate It,” (M. Evans and Co., New York, $4.95).
“I had been getting a growing number of patients who work at computers and have been complaining of eye fatigue,” Hutchinson said. “Every now and then you see a tiny pamphlet--there is one by the American Optometric Assn.--but there’s really not that much information in it. There are other technical articles from medical journals, but they are not something useful for the lay person to read. I thought I ought to do something.”
Reducing Eye Fatigue
The result was a year spent researching and writing “Computer Eye-Stress.” In it, Hutchinson advocates a two-pronged approach to reducing eye fatigue: change the work environment and strengthen the eye muscles through exercise. Hutchinson includes a series of eye exercises he has used successfully on his patients suffering from VDT fatigue.
There is a serious need for office managers to do something about work environments where VDTs are used, Hutchinson said. The labor movement has recognized the problem, even if management’s attitude has been lax, he added.
“Treatment for VDT-related eye fatigue, including eye examinations, is being written into union contracts,” Hutchinson said, and The Newspaper Guild, the national newspaper union, is promoting a model act in legislatures across the country that sets work breaks for computer users, as well as health guidelines.
In California, three VDT bills have been proposed in Sacramento. The most recent bill, proposed by Sen. Bill Greene (D-Los Angeles), would have provided free eye examinations and eyeglasses for VDT users. It was killed in committee, as was another, more comprehensive measure proposed earlier in this session by Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica). The third also died in committee, and no legislation is pending.
Number of VDT Users to Grow
Whether or not businesses are forced to provide relief, the need to prevent VDT fatigue will increase. “Depending on what study you look at, anywhere from 50% to 90% of VDT users complain of eyestrain,” Hutchinson said. In the next five years, projections show, the number of Americans with computers in their homes will grow from 13 million to 40 million, and 50% of American workers will be using computer terminals, Hutchinson said.
In his book, Hutchinson details the primary causes of eyestrain: Tiny muscles that focus and move the eyes can tire, and the brain can have difficulty deciphering what the eyes are seeing, tiring both the brain and the eyes.
Unattended eye problems also contribute to fatigue. “If you need glasses or your prescription is out of date, that can definitely cause eyestrain,” Hutchinson said. Uncorrected conditions such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism and the eyes’ inability to converge and focus on close objects can quickly cause muscles to tire.
Tension due to fear, worry or anxiety can excite the sympathetic nervous system, causing the eyes to dilate, which makes it harder for the eyes to converge and focus on a VDT. Only air traffic controllers are more stressed than word processors working under a deadline, Hutchinson says in the book, adding that air traffic controllers use VDTs.
Says Radiation Not a Problem
One VDT “problem” that Hutchinson labels spurious is computer radiation. “Study after study has been made, and no one has found any significant amounts of radiation coming from VDTs,” he said. “The kinds of radiation you can get from a VDT are ultraviolet light, infrared and X-ray radiation. But just stepping outdoors you get 10,000 times more ultraviolet light and 100 to 1,000 times more infrared radiation from the sun.” VDT screens made in the United States are carefully made so that no X-rays escape, he said.
According to Hutchinson, work places could not be more poorly designed for using VDTs if the designer had perversely planned them that way: “Most offices are twice as bright as they should be for looking at VDT screens.” The problem is that the eye does not easily adapt to both the bright room illumination and the lower light level of the VDT screen.
Glare, which causes words on a VDT to wash out, and reflections, which pull the eyes out from focusing, are common bugaboos in most offices. (Indeed, as this article is being written at a VDT, the late afternoon sun is shining on the screen, blocking out the words.) Ideally, the book says, a computer terminal should be situated so that neither the VDT nor its operator faces a window. Glare can be reduced by the addition of anti-glare screens.
The actual computer monitors (another word for VDT) can be a critical cause of strain. Hutchinson contends that the worst is a television set. The phosphor on the inside of the TV screen fades quicker than that on a VDT, causing increased flicker, which “can drive your eyes crazy.” The flicker on VDTs can be reduced by adjusting the brightness control.
The color of the monitor can aggravate or relieve eyestrain. Hutchinson, who used various medical and research journals as his resources in writing “Computer Eye-Stress,” said that green and amber are the colors easiest on the eyes--red or blue being the least comfortable. “Amber comes out of Europe,” he said. “It seems to be the best of all.”
Choosing the right VDT is important. Hutchinson said that good, high-resolution monitors can be purchased for about $150 and added to a computer if the existing monitor is hard to read. Multiple-color monitors, while handy for working on graphics, should be adjustable for word processing use in a single color, either green or amber.
Simple Eye Exercises
Perhaps the most innovative suggestions in “Computer Eye-Stress” are in the section on eye care. Along with recommendations for annual checkups, hourly 15-minute breaks, and relaxation therapy, Hutchinson prescribes simple eye exercises to strengthen the muscles that turn the eye in for close-up viewing.
Among his exercises are “beads and string,” which helps both eyes see the same object at the same time; “pencil push-ups,” which improve convergence and focusing abilities; “focusing jumps,” which improve the ability to change focus quickly from near to distant objects, and “eccentric circles,” which improve the eyes’ abilities in convergence, divergence and focusing.
Hutchinson doesn’t expect his book to solve all the problems associated with VDT fatigue, but he hopes that it might make office managers and planners more aware of the needs of workers in this computer age.
“The key thing is that when a worker is uncomfortable, he is not at his most productive,” Hutchinson said. “Just read the book, and you’ll get more productive.”
