Reading is beneficial for many reasons. Reading on an eBook reader using e-Ink technology is just like reading paper. Reading requires good lighting and proper font size to ease eye strain. Reading on a tablet is a whole new challenge. Many young adults say they do not get eye strain. This is just not true. The younger your eyes are the more readily they can adjust to the eye strain causing you to believe it is not bothering you. It is. One day all those young eyes will become older and life will be come blurry. Eye strain is a very common problem and I believe a very serious problem that can be avoided. When our eyes become fatigued they loose focus and many times cause head or neck aches.

With the popularity of eBook readers and tables I am increasingly concerned for the vision of all readers. There are a few simple suggestions that will help you prevent and control your eye strain. You need to make these steps part of your daily routine, especially if you are starring at a computer most days.

First and foremost, you need to take short breaks coupled with quick simple eye exercises. Eyes are sets of muscles that need to be exercised. Taking a break for your eyes is different than the type of break you would take for lunch. You can take these eye breaks just by sitting in your chair. One simple exercise would be simply to stop starring at the screen and look off in the distance. Find an object and focus on it. Let your eyes adjust until the object is clear. Even if you believe it was always clear you would be surprised how many changes your eyes go through to focus from a short distance to a long distance, from a glare to soft natural light. Just relax your eyes by staring off in the distance at the same object for about 5 minutes. Do this exercise several times during your reading or working day and you eyes will thank you for it. Other eye exercises can be found on the internet.

Second, correct your screen color to reduce glare. One main reason e-Ink has become so popular is that there is no screen glare. It is like reading paper and many avid readers are not moving to tables for this very reason. Reducing glare is vital in control eye strain. Not only are we starring at computer screens, we are now starring at small smartphone screens trying to read small print! Glare is all around us and our eyes have no place to hide.

It would be nice just to say read only from paper but in today’s world that is just not practical. A few ways to reduce glare is to make sure your screen is at a 90 degree angle so as to not have to adjust to the direction, make sure there is little direct sunlight causing your screen to be difficult to read, purchase a pair of computer glasses or an anti-glare screen over your monitor.

Finally, you should adjust your monitors contrast. Good contrast makes edges easier to read and your eyes do not have to focus as much. Contrast is affected by surrounding light. Direct sunlight destroys all contrast and so does an over lit or dark room. Find the right balance for a contrast that will be pleasing to your eyes.

Just remember, you only are given one set of eyes. Even if today they do not feel strained know that they are. Our world uses products that cause eye strain and you need to protect and follow these preventative steps no matter how young you are.