If you squint your eyes too much while looking
at your computer screen, you could end up with a painful
condition called dry eye, Ohio State University researchers
warn.
Their study of 10 college students found that just a
slight amount of squinting at the computer screen reduced
blink rates by a half -- from 15 blinks a minute to 7.5
blinks a minute. The more the students squinted, the less
they blinked. The less the students blinked, the more
their eyes ached or burned, and the more they reported
sensations of dryness, irritation and tearing in their
eyes.
"People tend to squint when they read a book or a computer
display, and that squinting makes the blink rate go way
down," study lead author James Sheedy, a professor of
optometry, said in a prepared statement.
"Blinking rewets the eyes. So if your job requires a
lot of reading or other visually intense work, you may
be blinking far less than normal, which may cause eye
strain and dry eye," Sheedy said.
While it can be painful and irritating, dry eye is rarely
a debilitating condition. It's usually treatable with
over-the-counter eye drops, the researchers said.
The study was published in a recent issue of the journal
Optometry and Vision Science.
