How To Prevent Eye Strain While Gaming

Video games often cause us to stare at our computer screens for much longer than we probably should. While there’s nothing wrong with a long gaming session, you should consider a few things while you’re playing. Your eyes take in a lot of harmful blue light as you stare at your screen. This light can cause serious eye strain over time if you don’t give yourself a break. Here, we’ll tell you how to prevent eye strain while gaming, so you can play without harm.

Reduce Glare

Our eyes aren’t meant to look at one direct source of light for hours on end. This means you should never play video games for a long time while you’re in complete darkness. You also should avoid playing in extreme sunlight, as your eyes will have to work much harder to actually see the screen, contributing to more eye strain.

The 20-20-20 Rule

You can use this rule whether you’re staring at screens for work or leisure, but it’s important for gaming specifically because we often lose track of time as we’re playing. Every 20 minutes you look at a screen, you need to give yourself a break. Use this break to look at something at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds straight. These breaks will help your eyes readjust to the outside world.

Blue Light Blockers

One of the best ways to prevent eye strain while gaming is to use some form of blocker to protect from the harmful blue light of your computer screen. You can get specially made glasses that have a yellow filter over them to cancel out the blue light. Some devices have a blue light mode that you can toggle to reduce the amount of light emitted from the screen. Utilize these tools and you’ll stay in the game for much longer.

Set a Time Limit

The best way to prevent eye strain is to decrease the amount of screen time you get. A good limit is roughly three to four hours. Past this amount of time, your eyes can really start to work overtime trying to focus. All that effort contributes to painful eye strain that’s hard to get rid of once it begins.