Hey there and welcome to Life Noggin. On average, we spend nearly 10 hours each
day looking at digital screens., These include computers, tablets, TVs, and cell phones. I mean, I get it. They have a lot to offer. What’s not to love? [tense orchestral music plays] Oh hey James! ...James?… Blocko: Oh wow! James! What happened? James: What? This is just how i look when i’ve been working
on a video. Blocko: How long have you been- James: Who wants to know!? What are you a cop? If you are, you have to tell me! Blocko: whoa whoa whoa! I was just making video about staring at screens. James: Oh cool. Can I help? Blocko: Well alright! James: It turns out, there’s a downside
to screen time and it’s called Computer Vision Syndrome. While it sounds like a pretty cool super power,
it’s actually a not so cool problem that can result from prolonged use of screens. Blocko: Staring at a digital screen for hours
at a time can have a negative effect on your eyes and back. It can cause eyestrain, headaches, blurred
vision, double vision, dryness, and neck, back and shoulder pain.,,, And symptoms can
be worse with bad lighting, glares, poor posture, preexisting vision problems, improper viewing
distances, and the longer you spend looking at your screen. One study found that just 4 hours of screen
use was significantly associated with eyestrain and sore eyes. 24 hours of continued use and you’re looking
at...well your not looking. I guess. At least it’d be very difficult to. James: Because digital screens are often brighter
than printed text with less contrast and more light, your eyes have to work harder and thus
are susceptible to fatigue and strain. Studies have found that prolonged screen use
weakens your visual functions and can cause eye strain. Looking at a screen also significantly reduces
the rate at which you blink. A decreased blink rate accompanied with an
increase in the surface area of the exposed eye, commonly associated with looking at a
screen, can lead to dry eye and fatigue. Blocko: One study measured the blink rate
of test subjects while they played a virtual card game for 10 or 30 minutes in order to
see if using eye drops could help. They found a 40% reduction in blink rate during
game play, with the wetting drops doing nothing to improve it. But there are some ways that you can combat
the negative effects of screens. The American Optometric Association recommends
following the 20-20-20 rule to alleviate eye strain by taking a 20 second break every 20
minutes to look at something 20 feet away. You can also benefit from glasses designed
for computer viewing and using your devices’ night settings. James: For those of you like me who sit at
a desk all day, posture and screen positioning are also important. To avoid neck strain, the screen should be
directly in front of you - not to the left or right - with its center 15 to 20 degrees
below eye level. Your screen should also be 50 to 100 centimeters
away from you, since screens that are too close require significantly more use of your
eye muscles in order to focus. Blocko: aside from eye troubles, staying up
for a full 24 hours as we've mentioned before, can lead to a decrease in cognitive function
and limits your ability work productively. The work you might be doing might actually
suffer from not getting some rest. While I don't recommend staring at your screens
for 24 hours straight, with the proper precautions and breaks, you should be able to make it
through a long stretch of….whatever the heck James is doing. James: it's called art Life Nugget! Read a fricken book why dontcha! So, what's the longest you've been on the
computer? Do you spend too much time online? Lemme know in the comment section below. If you enjoyed this video and wanna see more
of theodd1sout's videos you should go and check out his channel Either you're a dog person or a cat p-URson,
but why do i have to pick just one? Can't I look at these two animals and say
that both of them have good qualities that make them amazing pets? As always, my name is Blocko, this has been
Life Noggin, don't forget to keep on thinking!
