When I was younger, I was always told by adults to limit the amount of time playing video games-especially during summer break-in fear that my vision would become strained. However, I never considered the implications of the warning until recently. After all, how could too much gaming hurt my eyes, if I could somehow keep playing and still maintain good eyesight without the use of glasses or contacts.

What I later discovered was the fact that long hours of gaming actually do weaken your vision; at least temporarily according to Medicinenet.com medical editor and MD, Melissa Conrad Stoppler (Medicinenet.com is part of the WebMD family). Long hours of gaming require that your eyes will be focused on only one spot, and as a result, you won’t be blinking as much. The lack of blinking causes eyestrain; your eyes need to blink on a consistent basis to stay lubricated, otherwise they will go dry and become uncomfortable. According to Medicinenet.com, some of the common symptoms for eyestrain are ocular fatigue, tired eyes, blurring, headaches, and occasional doubling of the vision.

Originally, this problem was linked to watching too much television. But according to Howstuffworks.com (a website powered by TLC, the television network), this was mainly a problem around 1967 when television sets threw out x-rays (a form of electromagnetic radiation.) In today’s world however, televisions are safer because makers of the television sets noticed the radiation problem and fixed it. While that solved the radiation issue, it didn’t solve the eyestrain issue because eyestrain comes from staring at the screen too long.

Of course, the solution to eyestrain is simple; just take breaks off the television screen or even take a nap every now and then, so you can rest your eyes. While playing, you may want to get your eyes focused on more than your screen, so your eyes can blink more.

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