Does anyone else suffer eye strain

mryang · #1 (**permalink**) 03-20-2008, 08:09 AM

Hi,

Just wondered if any of you guys and girls ever get headaches through working too long on your screens?

Personally I have two 19" monitors side by side and spend probably 12 hours a day in front of them - I have started getting migraines and visual distrubance someimes and obviously this could have many different causes - but I have now had an MRI scan which is completely clear and eye exam which is also fine and my glasses are designed for computer use.... so I am wondering if anyone else has a similar experience and if it was anything to do with your working conditions / overhead lighting or screen resolution etc..

**wige** · #2 (**permalink**) 03-20-2008, 09:18 AM

Hm, sounds a bit like my setup, where I have two 20" monitors I look at for 9 hours a day at work, and a 21" monitor I look at for another four hours a day for school and gaming. However, I have not personally experienced eye strain issues for quite some time.

There are two issues that I have seen (just from my own experience and setting up workstations for coworkers) that could lead to eye strain in people working with computers for a long period of time. One is CRT monitors. These monitors can cause headaches and migranes, especially if you have gotten used to working with LCD monitors, then use CRTs for an extended period of time. For example, all my computers have LCD monitors, but if I was working on a computer with a CRT I found I would get a headache within an hour or two.

Another issue is the refresh rate. Most monitors have a recommended refresh rate range, that the monitor can safely handle, but many users have a "comfortable" refresh rate. Too high, and it could cause seizures, too low and it could cause headaches as the brain struggles to keep up and process the images properly. Again, this seems to me to be more frequent with CRT monitors.

Also, make sure the monitors are at a reasonable distance, and try adjusting the resolution of the monitors. If the text on the screen is too small or the monitor is too close, your eyes may be straining to correct for this. Also, if your workspace is not ergonomic, you may experience muscle strain (especially in the shoulders and neck) that could lead to headaches and migraines.

chandrika · #3 (**permalink**) 03-20-2008, 01:32 PM

I was gettin really sore eyes and I found this special bulb which has made a big difference. Its only £10 and is like a natural light bulb, but also it is a negative ioniser, so you get both effects in one light bulb. It produces no ozone either, many ionisers produce ozone.

Anyway this bulb is so cool, first it has daylight spectrum, which is great and helps the body produce vit D. Also though computer screens and stuff generate positive electrons. If you stand by a waterfall the air has 100000s negative electrons, in a forest a bit less, field a bit less, city alt less, inside in a city, hardly any, the bulb fixes that. Read about it here as I cant explain...
Computer User Tiredness

I am going on the great effect I have felt from using this light bulb and today my mum came over and actually commented on how fresh my room was, I was dubious it would do anything, but it really does.

Its amazing for a tenner. I physically feel the diference from getting one of these and I promise I am in no way related to the seller.

I also went to the opticians and he gave me some glasses with anti glare on the lens. Which has also helped. I can see fine, but the optician recomended that as I am staring at PC all day these would help, they magnify a bit as well.

Martinscholes · #4 (**permalink**) 03-21-2008, 09:47 PM

It can depend on the type of screen. Some flat screens have a flicker rate that can cause migraines, for example.

Do your glasses need adjusting? If they are out of alignment, that can cause problems.

Try to get screen breaks every now and again. And ask your optician if he can recommend eye exercises to help.

Also, I had a vision problem that was a result of a cataract operation. It was, apparently, easy to spot, but two High Street optician chains (both well-known, one for being cheap, the other for being fast) failed to notice this!

So, just because your eyetest shows such-and-such, well, you could get a second opinion.

Luckily a third optician identified what was happening and I went to the eye hospital to get laser surgery.

thehappysmoker · #5 (**permalink**) 03-22-2008, 12:58 PM

You want to get yourself checked out thoroughly.

I had symptoms like yours some years ago, and it turned out that I was diabetic.

Get a medical opinion, you can't be too careful.

Martinscholes · #6 (**permalink**) 03-22-2008, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thehappysmoker

You want to get yourself checked out thoroughly.

I had symptoms like yours some years ago, and it turned out that I was diabetic.

Get a medical opinion, you can't be too careful.

A good optician can spot this and will refer you to your doctor.

inertia · #7 (**permalink**) 03-24-2008, 05:39 PM

Same thing happened to me about 3 months ago and i got my employer to pay for an eye test (which they are obliged to by British law).
The optician said my eyes were fine and recommended spending a few minutes looking out of the window, every hour. When concentrating on a computer screen your eyes are constantly focusing close in. By focusing on distant objects for a few minutes it seams to help.
Didn't go down too well with the boss when i told him id have to spend a couple of minutes looking out of the window every hour!

Dubbya · #8 (**permalink**) 03-24-2008, 06:02 PM

I used to get headaches and my eyes would burn from eyestrain as well. As Chandrika says, the anti-reflective coatings on eyeglass lenses can make a big difference and they're well worth the extra money.

Martinscholes has some sage advice as well. Go to a different (and reputable) Optometrist, explain your symptoms and describe your work environment.

Be sure there's plenty of natural light in the room and, as Inertia says, take a break every hour.

tella.star · #9 (**permalink**) 03-27-2008, 09:53 AM

if i feel my eyes get dries and a bit sored usually when i stayed a long hours in front of my PC i just used an eye drops to refresh it.
they said it is a symptom of eye strain.

mryang · #10 (**permalink**) 04-07-2008, 05:02 AM

Thanks for the advice so far..

Do you guys have a preffered setting on your monitor - i.e refresh rate etc

Dubbya · #11 (**permalink**) 04-07-2008, 10:50 AM

If you're using a CRT monitor, always set your refresh rate as high as your video card will permit according to the screen resolution you're using.

This raises another point. If you find yourself squinting to view desktop icons or to read their descriptions, you might want to use a lower resolution.

Give it a shot and see if it makes a difference for you.

**jawn_tech** · #12 (**permalink**) 04-07-2008, 05:22 PM

I get headaches if I'm working late at night, when the house is dark and I'm using my laptop which has a bright enough monitor to signal air traffic.

One thing you should never do though, is use eye drops that are made of a solution of onion juice, bleach, and Frank's Red Hot.

Not that I've ever tried that. I'm just saying.

Dubbya · #13 (**permalink**) 04-07-2008, 06:16 PM

LMAO..hahahahaha.. sage advice, sage advice!!

JReynolds · #14 (**permalink**) 04-09-2008, 07:23 PM

I ‘m 69 years old and spend 10 hours a day in front of my screen.
My studio is lighted naturally and I can look off into the distance
frequently. This helps. A good eye exercise is Palming. Cup your
palms over each eye adjust your palms so as to block the light
keep your eyes open and move them around gently
but stretch them to the limit sid to side and up and down.
The radiant heat from your hands will warm your eyes and relax
the mussels. What you are looking for is to eliminate the after images
floating around in your brain until you see black.
When you achieve this, images will be sharper and colors brighter.
Your headache will go away. If not see an Ophthalmologist.

bj · #15 (**permalink**) 04-09-2008, 09:39 PM

All good advice. And lots of different possible causes, to which I'm going to add one more. Migraines and other severe headaches are often caused by allergies, as I found out with my son, who was lactose intolerant, and who LOVES milk! So if none of the above helps, then get an allergy test. And if you are using CRT monitors, you might consider upgrading. You don't realize it but CRT monitors are constantly strobing, even if it's too fast for the eyes to consciously notice, but the constant adjustments your eyes are unconsciously making to the blinking can be the cause of the eyestrain.

I make a point of getting up out of my chair and away from the screen for five minutes of every hour, and I do work long hours in front of the screen. No headaches, though my wrist sometimes acts up from mousing so much. (Which is why I'm now the worst fiddler on the face of the planet. I figured the exercise of learning to play would do my wrist good, and it has helped.)

Also, simply cracking a window and letting in some fresh air (even in the cold weather) can make a difference, geting rid of stale air and Co2 bulidup in your house and letting in some oxygen.

I think I'm probably going to try Chandrika's light bulb trick, that sounds interesting. I already know I get super b!tchy when there are too many gray days in a row, so that sunlightbulb might brighten my outlook considerably!

**jawn_tech** · #16 (**permalink**) 04-09-2008, 10:19 PM

BJ I don't know if this applies, but have you heard of SAD -- seasonal affective disorder... My wife and I are convinced we've got it. Where we live, it's gray 8 months out of the year it seems.

This year we treated the family to a Florida vacation at the beginning of March, when the worst snow storm of the year hit our hometown. We were miles away, in warm temps, palm trees, Disney World, and swimming at the beach.

But the lighting in our house is predominantly 'full spectrum daylight' bulbs (the energy-saving kind). It's made a big improvement, in mood, as well as headaches.

bj · #17 (**permalink**) 04-09-2008, 10:42 PM

Quote:

BJ I don't know if this applies, but have you heard of SAD -- seasonal affective disorder... My wife and I are convinced we've got it. Where we live, it's gray 8 months out of the year it seems.

Yes, I have, and I'm sure it exists. I most likely have a mild form of it, but I wouldn't want to test that theory out either way by living where you do!

A few years back we had over 40 days in a row of overcast skies and on and off rain. I didn't realize how intolerant and moody I had gotten until the sun came back out, and my (usual) smile with it. That stretch of gray here is pretty rare though. We get an occasional 3-5 days in a row, but rarely more than that. I do, in the winter, stay inside a lot though. I'm definitely going to make sure I have a stockpile of those daylight ionizing bulbs before next winter.

keywordguy · #18 (**permalink**) 04-10-2008, 01:31 AM

I used to suffer from eye strain, but these days my eyes are doing pretty good.

I used to work on a 21" CRT monitor until I discover a bigger monitor is not necessarily better. Sometime a larger monitor can mess with your eyes and peripheral vision if it is too close.

Here's what has helped me; (I spend 10+ hours a day in front of my macbook pro and one or two additional monitors) - A visit to my eye doctor and he hooked me up with some computer glasses. Nothing special, but they allow the lens to focus on the monitor vs. your eye muscles having to work so hard for long period of time. After some long hours of computing, I could hardly see across the room. Now great when I walk away from my computer and have fewer headaches.

Another thing I did was purchase an Ott-Lite with a computer friendly florescent bulb. It is adjustable and designed specifically for computer use. I'm sitting in my office now with all the lights off except for the Ott-Lite and I have plenty working light and no eye strain.

Everyone's computer habits are different, but if you spend lots of time in front of a computer I would look at a pair of computer glasses (an eye doctor will know what these are)

One last thing I do is use a good lubricating eye drop once in awhile. For many of us who log lots of hours on a computer, we tend to forget to blink when staring at a monitor.

Hope this helps.

On another note: has anyone used or tried a Stance Angle chair? I'm looking for the ultimate programming chair.

jabo · #19 (**permalink**) 04-30-2008, 02:39 AM

Having to stare at the monitor almost the whole day, yes I do suffer from eye strain. Last weekend I had it checked up and picked up my first set of eye glass the same day. Sort of a different feeling for me but I think I gained comfort for my eyes and my headaches are not bothering me anymore.

raopraveen · #20 (**permalink**) 05-05-2008, 04:07 AM

I have to work atleast 10 hours/day in my office and after coming to home also for 4 hours at night but it doesn't sounds that one should forgot taking care about his/her health. Eyes are precious gift for all of us so keep proper care of these stones....