How to Protect Your Eyes While Gaming: 6 Steps to Follow
Are you an avid gamer and love spending hours glued to your screen? If yes, then chances are that your eyes get strained after long gaming sessions. This is because staring at a computer or television screen for extended periods of time can cause eyestrain, headaches, and blurred vision. Therefore, it’s essential to be mindful of the amount of time spent on gaming activities and take measures to protect your eyes while playing.
Luckily enough, there are several steps you can take to keep your eyes healthy and prevent any strain or pain caused by long gaming sessions. Below we discuss six ways how to protect your eyes while gaming:
1. Adjust Your Screen Settings
Adjusting the screen settings of a computer monitor or laptop is a crucial step to follow when protecting your eyes while gaming. The brightness, contrast, color temperature, and blue light filters should all be appropriately adjusted on the device to reduce eye strain and protect vision health.
The bright light from a computer monitor can affect how clearly we see visuals onscreen and cause headaches and eye strain. Adjusting the brightness setting helps ensure that the screen is gentle enough for our eyes to handle over long periods of time. Similarly, adjusting the contrast setting will help you adjust the dark and light shades of colors displayed onscreen for better visibility when playing games with dark or dimly lit scenes.
Furthermore, modern computer monitors now come with color temperature settings that allow you to adjust the amount of blue light emitted from the screen. Finding a comfortable setting on this feature is essential, as too much blue light can cause eye fatigue and reduce vision quality. Additionally, many monitors also come with built-in blue light filters, which help further reduce the amount of blue light exposure from the device.
2. Wear Blue Light Glasses
Blue light glasses are a great way to protect your eyes when gaming. Blue light, also referred to as high-energy visible (HEV) light, is a type of light emitted from digital screens such as computer monitors and mobile phones that can be harsh on the eyes. Prolonged exposure to blue light can cause eye strain and fatigue, leading to headaches or other vision issues. By wearing blue light glasses while gaming, you’ll reduce the strain caused by this type of light.
The lenses in these glasses are specially designed to block out some of the harmful blue light and UV radiation associated with screen time. This helps you focus more effectively on games for longer periods of time without straining your eyes or feeling tired afterward. Additionally, blue light glasses help to reduce the risk of developing long-term vision problems such as cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.
Aside from their practical uses, blue light glasses can also be a great fashion accessory. Many gaming enthusiasts wear blue light gaming glasses with their favorite outfits to protect their eyes and make a statement. With so many styles and colors available, you’re sure to find something that suits your individual style!
3. Sit Further Away
When protecting your eyes while gaming, sitting further away is one of the most important steps. This helps reduce the strain on your eyes from looking at a computer or television screen for long periods of time. Sitting too close and squinting can increase fatigue and cause headaches, blurred vision, and other eye-related problems.
Additionally, sitting further away from the screen allows you to focus more on what’s happening in the game rather than just seeing a blur of colors and shapes. Playing games with this level of detail will be more enjoyable, which will ultimately help reduce eye strain over time. Your eyes can also adjust better to higher-resolution monitors if you sit further away since your pupils won’t need to adjust as much.
4. Take Regular Breaks
Taking regular breaks while gaming is essential to give your eyes a chance to rest. Set up an alarm or timer so you know when it’s time for a break, and then take 5-10 minutes away from the screen each hour. During this time, do something else, such as reading, walking, or stretching. This will help prevent eye strain and fatigue caused by extended gaming periods in one sitting.
5. Avoid Glare
Glare can cause eyes to fatigue quickly due to the brightness and reflected light on the monitor. To reduce glare, ensure no bright lights or windows are reflecting directly onto your screen, as this can make it harder to see. You can also purchase an anti-glare screen protector, which is designed to reduce the amount of reflected light on your monitor.
6. Blink More
Blinking helps keep your eyes hydrated and prevents them from becoming dry and irritated while gaming. Therefore, ensure you remember to blink often instead of keeping your eyes open for too long – this will help alleviate any discomfort or strain caused by long gaming sessions.
Following these six steps, you can keep your eyes healthy while gaming and prevent strain or fatigue caused by long gaming sessions. So put these tips into practice to ensure you’re protecting your vision and enjoying every second of your gaming experience!
Author Profile
- I'm Al Mega the CEO of Comic Crusaders, CEO of the Undercover Capes Podcast Network, CEO of Geekery Magazine & Owner of Splintered Press (coming soon). I'm a fan of comics, cartoons and old school video games. Make sure to check out our podcasts/vidcasts and more!
