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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)?"
People make assumptions about me because my eyes are constantly blood-shot
um, yeah... it's just monitor strain
i gotta remember that
/bin/fortune | slashdotsig.sh
Perhaps this ask /. should have been combined with the previous. After all, it really is just another aspect of the same problem. Unfortunately, Photoshop can't fix your vision. Dunno about GIMP....
-Sean
As others have (less politely) said . . .
Try to find ways to spend less time looking at the screen. Really.
Draw UML on a whiteboard. Step outside for a minute or two every so often. Outline test cases on a piece of paper. Organize things on real to-do lists, instead of running your life off the screen.
(This advice has helped me avoid carpal tunnel, too - I got to the point where my wrists ached, and found ways to break up long bouts of typing. It helped quite a bit.)
Get your refresh rate on your monitor up as much as is reasonable - even the slightest flicker can cause trouble after a few intense hours.
Also, if you can, find a way to get rid of fluorescent lighting in your work area. It makes a big difference.
Do everything you can to break up those long bouts in front of a screen, even for short periods. Rest your eyes. Good luck.
You may have eye problems because you aren't eating well, aren't fit or don't get enough sleep on a regular basis. My eyes are still recovering from a late night (20 hours awake) - it usually takes a few days. Also note that near the end of your twenties you will find your body doesn't heal from such activities as quickly. If you stay up for more than 16 to 20 hours at a time more than once a week I wouldn't expect you to ever recover.
But you are talking about two seperate (but related) things - eye strain, and dry eyes. There are two seperate remedies if you have taken care of health, fitness, and sleep. First, look away from the screen at a far away object for 30 seconds or more at least every 10-15 minutes. There are programs which cover the screen and force you to do so for periods of time. Second, make a program that flashes something large on your display every 10-30 seconds extremely briefly. Your eyes will instinctively blink, and you will not be distracted after getting used to it - much less distracting than a beep, or other stimulues, and uses your reflexes so you don't need to take your mind off what you're doing.
I find that reading and coding cause me to keep my eyes open for far longer than they should be. I would be surprised if you were actually blinking enough when you were trying to blink more frequently.
-Adam
Invert the color sceme that you use when coding. I use white text on black background, it takes a bit of getting used to, but the difference is well worth it.
My eyes used to spasm and all sorts of nasty crap before I did this. A monitor is basiclly a large lightbulb, when the screen is mostly white, they will light the whole room.
The only problem is that many sites use white as a background and look ugly if you force your own colors on them.
- (for those who don't click through)
- drops in his eyes
- two flaxseed oil tablets a day
- clear wraparound glasses, essentially protective goggles
- sealed off his tear ducts so that fluid wouldn't drain easily from his eyes
Sealing off the ducts seems like a radical solution to me. I can't imagine monkeying that much with my body just to avoid dry eyes.---
UserAdvocate: The voice of the user
I'm in the middle of my exams, and my studies require me to sit at a computer screen for 10 hours a day (or more). Perhaps compared to some of you that's not much, but I'm experiencing itchy eyes, and sometimes I rub them vigorously because I can't take the itch anymore, and the result is: blood-shot eyes as if I just downed 15 tequilas. I'll sure keep an eye out (sorry for the pun) for any good solutions and if I find any, I'll post them up.
So far the only thing I can think of is Teramycin (TerRamycin?), a very mild desinfectant, comes in the form of a clear liquid or, more known to the public, ointment. I often use it if I get blood-shot eyes from swimming (I'm very sensitive to chlorene). Haven't tried it yet this time, but I'm gonna give it a shot. I read you have already tried eye-drops, but since Teramycin is a more viscous, oily stuff, it might help to keep your eyes wet and lubricated better (sounds gross doesn't it?)
Perhaps in the US this medicine is called differently, try to google it and find an alternative name.
Normal drops like visine have weird stuff in them like bascaline or something like that. Your eye will become immune to its effects. If you want to use drops, use Thera Tears or any that is simulated tears. Your eyes never get immune to real tears. Also, look away from your computer and focus on a far away object like a tree or a bird.
What he doesn't say is what resolutions and scan rates he's using. Whether CRT's cause more or less of a problem. And why he has a CRT/LCD in his car, or how much time he spends in the car, I have a 5 minute drive, but if you spend hours in heavy traffic that's not good. I find driving more tiring than coding. If he's using an IDE, that I'd drive me nuts, I use a test editor with green text on a black background without any stupid context sensitive colouring. Try making you screen less noisy. Don't concentrate on the screen, look at the keyboard or something.
An underlying medical issue or not he clearly needs to change what he's doing or pick another line of work.
#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.
Do you work in a dry place? Heated in winter and/or air conditioned in summer? Try a humidifier -- works well for me!
-Bill
My response is going to echo a lot of posters here for this question. These are things you can do while you're (say) writing code.
First and foremost, don't be afraid to take yourself away from the problem. Side effects: you can sometimes focus more on a problem when you distance yourself from it.
Second, fluorescent lighting will contribute to the problem. They are HORRIBLE for your eyes. If at all possible, use halogen - it's closer to the sun's lighting than even incandescent. Keep in mind that there is a latent flicker in fluorescent lighting that only becomes very obvious when the bulb or ballast starts to go bad. It will strain your eyes, and no polarized or UV protected lens will stop this. This is why people wind up doing the bifocals thing after years and years in office environments.
Third, don't be afraid to go outside into the big room. You know, that room outside the installation with the bright blue ceiling during the day, or buncha pinprick lights at night? It's good for you, and...well, see my last paragraph regarding halogen lighting.
This sig no verb.
Lay off the porn!
No, really; we told you you'd go blind!
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
- Get a high quality monitor
- Balance your color settings
- Don't sit too close to the monitor
- Align your monitor with your eyes
- Eliminate glare
Ok, that's not going to solve everyone's problems, but it will help. And most of the adjustments you make once, and then forget about. Seriously, you really don't want to cheap out when buying a monitor. $50 more spent on a monitor is going to affect your life significantly more than $50 on any other part of the computer.If you can't get one at work, at least have a good one at home. I went looking for a 19" monitor that could do 1600x1200 four years ago, and while I could have paid $450 (prices in USD), I instead opted for a $600 model (I used pricewatch for these prices). Why? Because any eye care and related discomfort to me wasn't worth $150. And the monitor really should be able to do at least 70Hz at the resolution you use, I can't tell you how many people I know who've had monitor-related headaches that were fixed by upping the refresh rate.
I've used Macs for a long time, which come with excellent color-balancing software. But PCs don't have this, and I'll often notice they present an image onscreen that is horribly out of whack. A lot of monitors allow you to adjust the strength of the color outputs, and I assume there's some software to do the same (try Adobe?). You shouldn't notice any adjustment in your eyes between looking at the monitor and the real world (such as if you putting on or taking off tinted glasses). That's not good for your eyes either.
You're supposed to have your eyes 2 feet from the screen. I don't know anyone who actually does this, but most people are at least 1 foot away. If you're sitting closer, or finding that you often have to lean in to see things (such as small text), you should probably get a larger (physically) monitor, or run at a lower resolution (or, adjust the sizes of how all your fonts display). This will make a big difference, and you'll see results almost immediately.
Your eyes should be even with the top of the screen (not the bevel). Ok, this doesn't have to be precise, but if you are constantly looking down or up it's going to suck for not only your eyes, but your neck and back, too. It's easy to fix, too, mostly people have monitors that are too small, so they stack books or bricks or whatever underneath to raise it up.
Almost forgot this one. If you're getting too much glare from windows or overhead lights you're going to be squinting constantly while using your monitor. You probably don't even notice it, as (like all of these things) your eyes just adjust to it automatically and you don't notice until they're bloodshot or you've got headaches. But if you find that you're squinting, get a filter on your monitor, or buy one that has some sort of anti-relectivity technology built-in. Well worth it.
Kurdt
I'm not anti-social. Just pro-technology.
I hope people can find these solutions helpful.
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.
I told the opthamologist what I do for a living, and the problems I had been having. She gave me a very thorough exam, including some types of tests I'd never been given before.
She determined that I needed a little bit more power in my mid-range vision, i.e. the range at which a typical computer monitor will be from your eyes. She recommended a prescription with progressive lenses. (Thats the prescription terminology for lenses with invisible tri-focal features. The brand name for most such lenses is 'Varilux'). She prescribed lenses with a very slight amount of additional power in the mid-range focal area.
She also highly recommended anti-reflective coating on the lenses. (The brand name for the AR coating they use is 'Crizal', from the same company)
The bad news: It was the most expensive pair of glasses I had ever purchased. $400+ lenses (hefty prescription, "thin" progressive lenses, anti-reflective coating), plus $200 for Titanium frames that lasted four years.
The good news: No eye strain for the last four years. Despite the price, I was so happy with those glasses, that when they finally broke a few weeks ago, I went back to the same place and spent roughly the same amount for a new pair. But since the new glasses take about a week to arrive and my existing pair was dead, I also went to LensCrafters and got a "cheap" pair that same day. ($150) In the one week I wore those I had such bad headaches at work that I felt like I couldn't get much work done. (Plus, being LensCrafters frames & lenses, they basically feel like toy glasses. But at least I've got a spare pair to wear while playing racquetball.)
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.
I've had the same problems and found some decent solutions, over the years. This has helped immensely:
:)
:) Look this up, it is tied to this].
1) Cut.caffeine.cold. This is the worst offender by far, this nice psychotropic drug we geeks commonly overuse. It does a nice job of severely restricting blood to your arms (worsening and/or creating RSI/CTS whichever) and drying up eyes to an insane degree. It also makes you bitter, but that's another story. #1 problem.
2) Minimizing screen reflections, getting a nice anti-screen artifact, helps with viewing
3) Eye Pills. Mighty powerful herb, can clear up to alcoholic level red eye syndrome in 20-30 mns. Your eyes will go bloodshot red to pure white. Guaranteed, plus 100% natural. Take 2-4 pills as needed, 2-3 times a week. Helps improve vision slightly as well. This heals your eyes, not a quick fix solution only.
4) Cod Liver Oil pills. These seal off the moisture in your eyes, helping bringing that healthy white eye look (esp useful in winter with the harsh, cold winds). Use as needed, 2-3 times per week. Make sure you get da pills version, not the bottle one
5) Carrots. No kidding, these boost color perception and overall brightness. Makes video games look killer as well (same as eyebrights, minus red cleansing properties). Karrot Top!
6) Avoid Visine eye drops. Avoid all of them. Useless, only designed as a habit forming money wasting scheme. They have harmful agents which do provide temporary relief only to worsen your condition over time, very fast. Ask any doctor. Use "artificial" neutral-tear like drops if you must, I'd suggest using none at all and doing steps 1-5. Say no to eye drops. You don't wanna end up like Jimmy the security guard, trust me.
7) Take a 2 mns eye/wrist break every XX mns (30 mns here). This helps. Focusing on distant object as well to maintain good eyesight (starring at a close object is what worsen myopia).
8) Ocular Rosacae? This is an eye disorder which makes your eyes red, and gritty, all the time. Small % of the pop has this [red tomato face?
That's it. I've read up on this, this is the best advice I have. Try it, and tell the world Johnny. You'll see how well this works.
And lasik eye surgery rocks for those still stuck with coke bottles glasses (although they are making a trendy comeback lately)
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Never hit your grandmother with a shovel, for it leaves a bad impression on her mind...
>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
Agreed that Visine is evil.
The "generic" brands of artificial tears also suck.
Allergan's Refresh Tears, on the other hand, are amazing. Most of the generics have the same formula, but Refresh and Ciba's artificial tears (forget the exact name) each have unique formulas that are superior. I found that generics would cure dryness but blur my vision, Refresh doesn't.
FYI, if you have LASIK surgery, you will NOT be able to say no to eye drops for a few months. Refresh will be your best friend. (For the first week you'll be putting in the preservative-free form every 30 minutes, I guarantee you. It'll slow down over a period of months, I now only need my Refresh once in the morning after waking up and that's it except in rare cases, but I had issues with dry eyes in the morning to begin with.)
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?