Dr. Bogorad talks screen time, eye health in AUGUSTA Magazine

Screen Time Savvy: AUGUSTA Magazine Feb./March issue

You’ve probably heard the warning most of your life: “Don’t sit too close to the TV! You’ll hurt your vision.” But the only real issue is that you may be blocking someone’s view.

“When you’re awake in a lit environment, your eyes are always receiving. This idea that using your eyes damages them is not valid. The eye is doing its thing no matter how much you’re concentrating on what it’s receiving,” says David Bogorad, M.D., professor and vice chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at Georgia Regents University.

Computers and handheld devices require users’ eyes to adjust to looking at material close. “In order not to see double, our eyes have to converge so that both eyes look at the same thing at the same time,” explains Bogorad. “That requires a certain amount of effort by the eye muscles and the brain.” Prolonged close-up visual work, whether it’s reading a book, knitting a scarf or playing Candy Crush, can lead to eye fatigue, but it does not damage the vision system, he says. The effects of eye fatigue resolve shortly after resuming activities that don’t lean heavily on a person’s ability to see up close.

He also recommends frequent blinking to protect the health of the corneas.

Read Screen Time Savvy