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Treating Monitor-Related Eye Strain?
bergeron76 asks: "Like many of you, I look at CRT and LCD displays constantly when I'm at work and when I'm at home (and even when I'm in my car). As a result, I was wondering if any of you have any neat ideas or ways to help reduce eye strain and dryness while looking at displays continuously? I've tried vitamins, eye drops, increased blinking, and combinations of glasses / contacts with little success thus far. People make assumptions about me because my eyes are constantly blood-shot, and I'm wondering what I can do to heal my eyes? I recently heard about Punctum Plugs and was wondering if anyone has had any experience with them and if they're worth the cost. They're little plugs that reduce the size of your tear ducts so your eyes retain more fluid and stay 'lubed'. Does anyone have any experiences with these or have any other recommendations for reducing eye strain and dryness (aside from not computing)?"
#1 Go Outside.
#2 Make a new friend; have a co-worker lick your eyeballs.
Seriously, though, a couple of vision breaks watching the birds every three-four hours, using lubricating eye drops occasionally will help a lot. It's what I do to solve the problem (I compound it with wearing contacts).
And having plugs stuck in your tear ducts sounds damn scary to me. Remember they're there before you get the MRI.
Well put, though incomplete.
It is rare that productivity actually benefits from a long wide-eyed zombie session. I mean... it does happen, when a large solution comes through and you are so excited to do it that you can't think of anything else anyway. Most of the time, you can keep working productively without your fingers on the keyboard and your eyes on the screen more than maybe 10% of the time.
Note: If your typing sucks, you'll get less rest time. One day, a friend came by my cube and looked over my shoulder. He apologied, explaining that he was annoyed by my "playing" with the keyboard, thinking that I was just drumming my fingers on the keys, but was surprised to see that it was all accurate text. He said I'd be dead silent for a couple of minutes, then maybe 20 seconds of a sort of "ripping" sound. Spend some time thinking between console sessions. I go maybe 10 minutes, then force myself to stand up. I either do a couple grass pickers, a pushup or two, or take a fastwalk lap around the office. Regardless, I do a few focus shifts - infinity to nosetip and back.
Here's an setup change for you, though... Get your monitor down as close to desk level as you can. It seems like everybody wants their monitors up high, but unless you're posing for an office products catalog, it forces you to open your eyes wide. That can be disastrous when you're "becoming one with" a screenful of code, and you forget that you're even made of meat. The less of your cornea that's exposed when you're an unblinking zombie, the closer exposed sections are to the wet edge of your eyelids, and capillary action has a fighting chance against evaporation.
Set up to have the monitor as far away as practicable. I gave up some density for range... 21" monitor, at only 1024x768. It's nice to get more info on the screen at one glance, but rarely necessary.
The best analogy I can give is to compare how you feel after crouching for an hour versus walking, standing, sitting, and laying down for 8 hours. Let your eyes move around, internally AND externally.
Oh, and don't plug your tear ducts. You make a place that stays warm and wet, without getting rinsed. Unless you're trying to grow bacteria in your tear ducts, that's not a good thing.
Such a device does exist; it's called an LCD panel. Flicker-free, and crisper than (most) CRTs. Not prohibitively expensive, either - I bought a Dell Ultrasharp 1900FP (19" at 1280x1024) for $650 a while back. Looks great (screen and the case around it) and refreshes fast enough for gaming, plus it does analog and digital in.
Every cloud has a silver lining (except for the mushroom shaped ones, which have a lining of Iridium & Strontium 90)
I was worried about my eyesite for years. I stared at CRT's in crappy light and sometimes in blue light for hours on end. Let me tell you, staring at O'scope traces is hard on your eyes. On a submarine, most people wear glasses. I didn't and I think I know why: I turned the intensity down on the tube quite a ways but it was still bright enough to see easily. I also would focus on objects that were close and then immediately shift to ones that were far away (30-50' is a long way inside a welded shut sewer pipe).
Today, working sometimes 16 hours in front of a CRT, I do the same thing. I'm nearly 40 and have used computers and electronic devices now for 26 years solidly. My vision is still 20-20. Maybe I'm lucky but I think that it's do to good habits.
Move your monitor so that there's something else in your line of sight that's at least 5 feet away. I have one of mine set so that anyone walking down the hall is in view. As a result, I lift my eyes and shift focus every few minutes. Helps a lot.
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>One day, a friend came by my cube and looked over my shoulder. He apologied, explaining that he was annoyed by my "playing" with the keyboard, thinking that I was just drumming my fingers on the keys, but was surprised to see that it was all accurate text. He said I'd be dead silent for a couple of minutes, then maybe 20 seconds of a sort of "ripping" sound.
... I have found that I can generally tell the difference between my coworkers doing work, coding, writing an email, banging out something in work, or chatting in IRC/IM sessions - just by the differences in their typing keystrokes.
I have very acute hearing, and am unfortunately very aware of my surroundings
Earplugs generally fix that however. Makes for a good multi-hour hack session without pesky interruptions from reality.
But yea, get up and move around. Drink lots of WATER or tea or coffee if you are a caffeine freak like me, but use a small or medium size cup so you are up on your feet every half hour to go get more. In dry climates, go into the bathroom and let the hot water run as hot as you can stand it, soak your hands, then rinse your face a few times with very hot water - not sure why this helps but I have found it very helpful. Perhaps stimulates blood flow, washes away the blood, sweat, and tears, and get some in your eyes too for moisture.
The top of the monitor should be at the same height as your eyes, the actual body of the display below the horizon of your vision. Roughly one arms length away from you (extend your arm / fingers, should barely touch the screen.)
Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer