How to Keep Your Eyes Healthy While at Your Desk

min read
Woman sitting at her desk and looking outside while holding a pencil.
BetMGM Nov 04, 2021, 2:18 PM

Fans of online casino games and other types of online gaming will know that after long periods of staring at a screen, your eyes can start to get tired. For this reason, and many others, it’s essential to take care of your eyes. 

To get maximum enjoyment out of your gameplay in the long term, here are six tips you can incorporate into your daily life to help preserve your eye health (while spending hours behind a screen for work or leisure.)

1. Take regular screen breaks

The muscles in our eyes are designed to expand and contract depending on how far away we are looking. This means that staring at a screen all day, which is very close to your eyes, can potentially strain your eye muscles. 

For your eye muscles to stay healthy, it’s important to relax them and take regular screen breaks. Make a point of looking further away while you do, for about 20 seconds (even if you’re having a great time playing some of the best casino games online.) 

2. Set up your workstation properly

To prevent eye strain and other physical discomforts, it’s crucial to have a proper desk setup. From an ergonomic perspective, you need to be looking directly ahead of you with relaxed shoulders, while supporting wrists and forearms if you’re typing or using a mouse. 

Getting up and walking around regularly will also prevent other muscle tension and strain. If you’re deep into a game of online poker and worried about missing a move, it can be helpful to set a timer and take quick breaks when it’s not your turn to play – while not losing track of the game, of course!

3. Check your lighting

Adequate lighting is not only important to be able to see what you’re doing when you’re staying entertained playing live casino games online, but insufficient lighting can also cause you to strain your eyes (which can lead to headaches and blurred vision.) 

This is known as digital eye strain and is not something you should have to deal with. To make sure you have the right amount of light, work/play in a room where the ambient light supports your vision. You can do this by using desk lamps and standing lamps that provide diffused light instead of just having harsh fluorescent lighting shining directly onto your screen.

It’s also essential to check for any glare coming from outside light sources, as this can also hurt your eyes. Simple ways to address this are by closing curtains or blinds or using anti-glare screens or eyeglass lens coatings. 

4. Adjust your screen specs

Apart from adjusting the environment around you and your seated position, one of the best things you can do to keep your eyes healthy is to upgrade your screen specs. 

Although you probably won’t notice it, your screen is constantly refreshing, which can lead to a flicker. This flicker has been a major cause of eye strain in the past, but you can avoid or lessen this by using an upgraded screen with a higher refresh rate. A wider screen with a high resolution is also favorable, as it will make the intricate background scenes of online slot games more vivid, and create less work for your eyes!

5. Refine your display settings

We’ve talked about how to make sure that you use a display with adequate resolution. But you can also make further adjustments to your screen settings by checking the brightness, text and contrast, and color “temperature.”

If your screen looks as if it’s way too bright, it probably is, and you should make it darker. For some help reading the text on your screen, change up the font size for easier viewing. Fine-tuning your color settings can also be helpful, as many studies have shown that the blue light emitted by screens can damage your eyes and disturb your melatonin production (and sleep). Many apps and screen filters can help you counter this, for example, Iris, f.lux, Night Shift and Twilight. 

We wouldn’t want you to miss out on the colorful graphics when you play casino games, but taking care of your eyesight will be worth it!

6. Blink often

It’s such a simple piece of advice, but to avoid dry eyes – another symptom of digital eye strain that can be a problem if you work or play in an air-conditioned environment. Take the time to blink during the day. It will help ensure your eyes are well lubricated. 

Naturally, we don’t recommend blinking and missing anything important when playing live dealer games, but opening and closing your eyes regularly will help take care of your peepers in the long run. 

Get an eyeful of our incredible variety of games at BetMGM

If you like to play games at an online casino, you’ll be pleased to know that we have a wide selection of titles, including all of the classic casino table games. We also recommend taking regular breaks in between sessions (to support responsible gambling as well as healthy eyesight.) 

So when you’re all set up, register on our site and join us for some eye-catching gameplay!

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Our BetMGM editors and authors are sports experts with a wealth of knowledge of the sports industry at all levels. Their coverage includes sports news, previews and predictions, fun facts, and betting.

Our BetMGM editors and authors are sports experts with a wealth of knowledge of the sports industry at all levels. Their coverage includes sports news, previews and predictions, fun facts, and betting.