This sponsored post is a part of the campaign “Protecting America’s Eyes” by Reticare in order to inform U.S. citizens about the importance of eye protection from device screens. The opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

Digital eye strain is a very real struggle in my world, for both me and my son. Our eyes spend more time staring at some sort of screen every day than anything else. After years of working online, I’ve definitely noticed a change in my vision. I also get headaches far more frequently than I ever did before! I’m talking killer skull-crunching migraines at least once a week. Up until I started working in front of a computer all day, I got them maybe once a month. Along with the headaches, I get other symptoms of digital eye strain, including blurry vision and dry eyes. I’m worried about the same thing happening to my son, especially with him starting middle school this year. He’ll be spending more time than ever in front of screens, both at school and at home.

How widespread is Digital Eye Strain?

Did you know that 65% of Americans experience some symptoms of digital eye strain? It’s not surprising, considering 60% of us use digital devices for five or more hours every day. 70% of us even use two or more devices at a time! Kind of like how right now I’m writing this on my computer, but reading notes off my tablet.

Here’s the scary part: digital eye strain isn’t just an annoyance. The headaches and blurred vision are bad enough on their own, but constant exposure to the high-energy light that comes from our devices can actually lead to much more serious problems. Things like sleep disorders, computer vision syndrome and even macular degeneration. These are just the problems that we know about. If you think about it, the age of tech is still pretty new. We’ve only been staring at multiple screens for hours on end for a few years in the grand scheme of things. Who knows what other issues they’ll discover down the road?

The even scarier part? Our kids are at a higher risk of damage than we are! I always thought that I was more at risk because I’m getting older. Not old! Just older! Eyes get weaker as we age, right? Well, we have something that our kids don’t have: a better developed natural eye lens protection. Our kids don’t really finish developing that until they’re in their mid-twenties. So my 11-year-old tech-loving son is damaging his eyes before they even have a chance to finish developing.

How can Reticare help your whole family?

Protecting your family from digital eye strain is a must. Following basic rules, like the 20-20-20 rule (every 20 minutes, look away from your computer at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds) and limiting screen time as much as possible are good ways to help, but they’re not always practical. As much as I try to follow the 20-20-20 rule, I get lost in writing and don’t realize that an hour has passed. I know my son isn’t going to remember to look away every 20 minutes when he’s really involved with something. I need something that doesn’t require much thought once it’s in place.  This is where Reticare eye protector screens come into play.

Reticare eye protector screens come in all the standard device sizes (plus universal screens that you can fit to your device) and make it easy to protect everyone in my house in one fell swoop. Just put the screen on your devices and go. The Reticare eye protector screens naturall absorb that high-energy light that comes from your devices. You can get different levels of protection based on the age and amount of time spent on each device.

How do Reticare eye protector screens protect your eyes? Check out these three major way:

• First, it helps reduce the risk of sleep disorders. Did you know that reading on a bright screen before bed can actually make it harder for you to fall asleep? All that high-energy light interferes with your body’s natural sleep signals. Jake starts school ridiculously early this fall. Earlier than he did in elementary school. It’ll be hard enough for him to go to bed earlier, I don’t need him tossing and turning all night because of a sleep disorder too. I already do enough of that myself!
• Helps reduce the risk of Computer Vision Syndrome, which causes nasty symptoms like red eyes, blurred vision, irritated eyes and headaches.
• Most important of all, Reticare screens help prevent retina damage. The damage to your retinas from staring at a screen all day can lead to things like glaucoma, cataracts, and macular degeneration. Once your retina cells die, they don’t come regenerate.

Over 14 years of research went into creating the perfect Reticare screen protector, so they have a lot of experience in getting it just right. Two things I really like about the screen protectors:

• It’s easy to put on. I’m usually horrible at putting on screen protectors. I’m talking bubbles galore. Reticare gives you all the tools you need to make sure it looks good once in place, like a cleaning cloth and a little piece of cardboard that acts like a squeegee to get bubbles out. I was surprised at how few bubbles it made in the first place, and it was oddly satisfying to chase the few that remained to the edge of my screen.
• Once it’s in place, it doesn’t interfere with your device’s regular functioning. I bought the Intense Protection level. I was worried that the yellow tinting would look weird once in place, but it’s barely noticeable. My biggest worry was that it would affect the color of my photos and throw off my editing, but so far I haven’t had an issue with it. Jake doesn’t even notice it at all when he’s using the devices. If I didn’t tell him it was there, I doubt he’d even realize it.

Of course, I also like that it helps protect all of our eyes! By putting them on the devices my son uses most, I know he’s protected without the need for extra things, like special glasses or remembering to look away every 20 minutes. I still encourage him to follow the 20-20-20 rule, of course.

Visit the Reticare website to check out all the different eye protector screens that they offer and order the best level of protection for your family’s needs. Check out Reticare on Twitter to keep up with all their news.