Q: What’s the right reading distance?
Put your closed fist by your eye. Now look at your elbow. The distance between the two—the elbow distance—is the ideal separation you should strive for from that book, cellphone, or tablet, or any close work you’re holding in your hand. Your eyes will thank you.
“It’s called the Harmon Distance,” says Dr. Ashley Kimble, optometrist and owner of New Vision Care in Winter Garden, “and it’s affecting the health of our eyes no matter how old we are. But I especially worry for children. Their phones and tablets have almost become extra appendages in their hands. Myopia, or nearsightedness, numbers have doubled in the U.S. in the last 30 years. Studies show us that increased screen time plays a major role in that.”
Q: “Our goal at New Vision Care is to fight myopia and everything else that can affect eye health.”
Myopia, or nearsightedness, happens when we stare too long and focus too closely. Our eyeballs elongate to focus on those too-close screens. Unlike children, adults’ eyes have stopped growing, but they too develop their own problems. Record levels of dry eye, digital eye strain, and headaches have become rampant.
“When we stare at a screen, we blink 50% less. Tear film evaporates faster. Our eyes get dry, they burn, and vision blurs. Our goal at New Vision Care is to fight myopia and everything else that can affect eye health. The most important ways to maintain your eye health: Get regular eye exams. Eat well and exercise—a healthy body includes healthy eyes. Limit screen exposure.”
Eye drops, corrective lenses that slow myopia, and blue light filters can help. But why not catch things early? Before you need those? And eye exams. Did we mention eye exams?
