Have you ever wondered about the impact watching TV has on our eyes?

Human eyes have the ability to see around 7,000,000 colours.

But different colours and lighting affect our eyesight, and even our moods. Certain colours can aggravate or irritate our eyes, making them weary or having to strain in order to do simple everyday things like watch television.

This is why Sujata Paul, Optician FBDO/CL and Professional Services Clinical Lead at Lenstore, an online contact lens retailer, has revealed how to spot if you have an eye condition while watching your favourite series:

Headaches and eye fatigue

Whilst TV isn’t permanently damaging to your eyesight, if you suddenly start to experience headaches, eye strain and eye fatigue, you may have developed an eye condition. Be sure to see your doctor to rule anything out and ensure you take regular breaks to rest your eyes after a lengthy viewing session.

Sore, burning, itchy or watery eyes

Again, if you’ve been spending a lot of time in front of your screen and you begin to develop physical symptoms including sore, burning or itchy eyes, you could have an eye condition. If this happens, be sure to book an appointment with your doctor or optometrist.

Blurred vision

In addition to over-exposure to your TV, blurred vision may be a sign of a vision-related condition, such as long or short-sightedness or astigmatism. Astigmatism occurs when either the front surface of the eye (cornea) or the lens inside the eye has a mismatched curve, and causes blurry and distorted vision for both near and far distances.

This can make watching TV quite a strain, but can be easily fixed with toric lenses, which are specifically designed to correct these effects.

Your Favourite TV Shows and Their Effect on Your Eyesight

Lenstore analysed seven popular TV series, and looked at how easy on the eyes their colour palettes are, giving them a score from 0 (worst for our eyesight) to 600 (best for our eyesight).

Colours towards the middle of the colour spectrum, like orange, yellow, and even some shades of red, tend to be easier on the eye, and therefore have a higher score.

Conversely, violet is to the far left of the colour spectrum, which means a greater chance of strain on the eye and consequently eye fatigue, therefore giving it a low score.