Nowadays the number of patients with complaints of eye fatigue, burning sensation in the eyes by the end of day, watery eyes have increased manifold and 80% of them have computer usage more than 2 hours daily. Some people might even complain of irritating behaviour by the end of the day or difficulty in looking straight into somebody's eyes.  

These symptoms usually fit into the spectrum known as Computer Vision Syndrome. The basic problem is that there is a kind of development of evaporative dry eye due to excessive loss of tears (your tear production is normal but the evaporation rate is high). The biggest reason is that whenever we perform any activity that requires concentration (Computer usage, driving, reading etc.) we tend to blink less thereby increasing exposure time. This can be very well be prevented if you follow these few tips and you can save your visit to an eye specialist. 

  1. Adjust your computer screen such that it should be at a level lower than your eyes so that you look down while working. This is important because on looking down our eyes are not exposed much. This is the reason why working on a mobile causes less problem as compared to computer use. Less exposure means less dryness and better comfort . 
  2. Follow the 20-20-20 rule. After every 20 minutes of continuous work take a break for 20 seconds and look at anything at least 20 feet apart. Looking at a distant thing relaxes your eyes and restore tear film due to involuntary blinking. 
  3. Avoid sitting directly in front of air drafts. Direct exposure to air drafts like sitting in front of an air conditioner increases evaporation of tears hence aggravating symptoms of dry eyes. 
  4. Ambient light conditions are very essential as increased brightness of the screen or working in the darks. There are two reasons firstly that the bright screen dark room combination again cause less blinking and secondly the use of bright light in the dark disturbs your circadian rhythm as your brain thinks it as a day. That is why the blue light filter in newer generation phones is good for your eyes and enhances sleep.
  5.  Omega 3 fatty acids rich diet is essential for proper lipid production of the lipid layer of the tear film. The important omega 3 rich foods are fish , flaxseed , papaya, groundnut etc. Along with omega 3 rich diet you need to decrease the omega 6 rich diets which is in abundance in fried foods so in a way healthy eating is essential even for your eyes.  

I hope that most of the readers might find this useful but if this still does not solve your problem please consult an ophthalmologist before going in for over the counter drugs.  Some of these features are seen in other diseases too. Drugs do wonderful effects but if taken under supervision.