
Ask HN: Tricks to Avoid Eye Problems? - jackbin
As a software engineer, I have the need to stay many hours in front of a screen.<p>I work 8 hours a day in an office with a computer. At home I usually spend about 3 hours a day at the computer (social network, programming, side projects, HN, ...).<p>I usually have slightly red eyes. Lately the problem has gotten worse. I began to have some pains in the right eye and difficulty focusing on the computer screen.<p>Because of that, I&#x27;m currently at home on vacation. I have a scheduled appointment with a vision specialist next week.<p>This is the first time I have complications with vision. I&#x27;m 26 years old, so far I&#x27;ve never had any problems or need glasses.<p>Someone has some tips to avoid eye problems?
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geocrasher
Look away. Frequently. I work from home, spend 10-12 hours a day looking at
screens. My office is set up so I can glance out a window easily. In fact it's
in my peripheral vision, that's how close it is. I look out it frequently. I'm
42, just had glasses in the last 2-3 years. The trick is to let your eye focus
on something far away on a regular basis. It's like getting up and walking
around, but for your eyes. It makes a huuuge difference.

~~~
asdf333
looking far is important. i recently switched to a large monitor and a small
office and it has been disastrous for my eyes.

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cyberjunkie
Been using PC screens since 92 and excessively since 95. I'm now 36 and my
wife urged me to take an eye test with her because I've ignored my eyesight
for so long.

She had a 25 minute session to get her glasses corrected. My time, 20 seconds
into mine.

"Ermmm.. there's nothing wrong with his eyes"

My wife was visibly annoyed.

I have this 'terrible' habit of watching people walk by, sometimes stare out
in the distance, looking at objects close and far all the time!

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demuch
Try avoiding displays using PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) for dimming.
Unfortunately most monitors and high-end phones made by Samsung, Apple and
Google make use of PWM.

For monitors you can check here:
[http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/flicker_free_database.h...](http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/flicker_free_database.htm)

For phones you can check the reviews on notebookcheck.net, they also test
whether the display is PWM-free in the reviews.
[https://www.notebookcheck.net/?&hide_youtube=1&typeArray[]=1](https://www.notebookcheck.net/?&hide_youtube=1&typeArray\[\]=1)

------
shamas
Eye stretching exercises. Focus on something as close as possible (in good
light) then slowly track out to something at infinite distance, one eye then
the other then both.

Additionally, make sure the contrast on the screen matches your surriundings!
There's no reason to have your brightness very high at all, and brightness is
different from contrast.

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biols
There's the 20/20/20 rule (every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away
for 20 seconds) that's cited often.

I started to have similar issues, and my optometrist set me up with some
reading glasses optimized for how far away I usually sit from my monitor. They
have eliminated a lot of the eyestrain issues I'd been dealing with.

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rudedogg
> I have a scheduled appointment with a vision specialist next week.

I was having eye strain towards the end of the day, and getting some
"occupational lenses" pretty much fixed the issue. I think visiting an
Optometrist is the way to go.

\-------------------

You might check if the lights in your home office flicker with the slow-motion
camera mode on your phone. I haven't researched whether it actually causes eye
strain, but it's so easy to fix I went ahead and purchased some Phillips LED
bulbs like the ones talked about here:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19098678](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19098678)

Some random things I do:

\- Lower brightness on your monitor (mine is at 75% currently, I think most
people go lower)

\- Use night shift/flux to make the monitor colors warmer at night

FYI getting used to the lower brightness and glasses will take a day or two.
My glasses made my eyes hurt at first.

~~~
thijsvandien
For reference, the brightness of my screen is somewhere between 1% and 7%,
depending on the time of the day (switching between three modes). People
always wonder how I can see anything, but I’m so used to it that I get tired
looking at brighter screens very quickly.

------
alanfranz
I had similar issues for a while. Some recommendations:

\- pick a LARGE, high-quality monitor, both at work and at home, and use
retina/hidpi modes. I use a 43" LG 4K monitor, and it was one of the best
investments of my life. Sometimes my co-workers laugh about the size of the
fonts on my screen, but that usually means I have ZERO STRAIN on my eyes,
since everything is extra large (basically, FullHD on a 43" monitor)

\- Tune your colors towards red. Blue imposes more strain to your eyes. That's
especially true when working indoors and/or by night.

\- Tune down your brightness, and use "dark mode" whenever possible.

\- Pick a pair of blue-filtering glasses with LARGE lenses, to use while at
your PC.

------
julianlam
While I'm not normally one to espouse buying _gear_ to fix problems, when it
comes to problems with the body, I think it could be worth it.

If you are unfortunate enough to need glasses, consider getting a pair that
has blue-light filtering (in addition to the regular AR coating).

I also use a monitor that comes with blue light reduction built-in (The Lenovo
p24h, if anyone's wondering), and there's a definite difference when I work in
the office (with the monitor) and at home (without).

Before I got my glasses, I was getting headaches after a couple hours in front
of the computer as well. Not anymore, but taking breaks (as others suggest) is
important too!!

------
jason_slack
I have had glasses since I was 1 year old. They were flexible and strapped to
my head. I still have them in a keep-sake box.

Today, I am 42 and my vision is still changing for the worse. I get 2 eye
exams each year and I always get an "everyday" pair and an "occupational" pair
used for screen, reading, writing, etc.

I am going to a specialist next week to look at why prism adjustments aren't
helping. I am skipping lines in test, not seeing text, having difficulty
typing without looking.

Good luck. Whatever you do, don't cancel your appointment. Go. You owe it to
yourself to get answers.

------
Adamantcheese
To respond to a click-bait-esque question, just don't have eyes.

But really take breaks, lower the brightness, use the color change function if
you work at night, keep the monitor further away from you (check your
ergonomics).

------
orn688
I developed eye floaters about a year ago that are annoyingly noticeable
against any page with a white background. The Dark Reader extension
([https://darkreader.org/](https://darkreader.org/)) has been a life saver for
me, and I've found my eyes to be less tired overall when using it, too.

My only wish now is for a way to invert PDF colors on Mac - I haven't found a
good way to do that short of inverting all screen colors, which messes up all
the other apps that do have a dark/night mode.

~~~
damnruskie
havnt tested on a mac but I use zathura on linux and its reverse colors
(cntrl+r) is a lifesaver for me.

this seems promising: [https://github.com/zegervdv/homebrew-
zathura](https://github.com/zegervdv/homebrew-zathura)

~~~
orn688
Wow, that looks perfect, thanks!

------
atoav
* Use a program like flux to reduce the blue light in the late hours (helps with sleep as a side effect)

* Think about your workspace. A lot has been written about this. Read it.

* Every now and then look up and gaze into the distant, roll your eyes and try to feel which muscles of the eyes seem tense. Try to loosen them.

* If you read a lot on screens get an e-reader and implement a way to get away from the screen (can also help with focus)

Your eyes are muscles. And like for every muscle the best thing you can do is
move it instead of keeping the same position unchanged for ages.

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accrual
I wear eyeglasses frequently. My newest pair has Blutech lenses [0] which help
filter blue light. I call it "flux for real life". [1]

They have an amber tint but I don't mind it. The filtering is a part of the
lens and not a coating, so it won't wear off.

GP indicates they don't wear glasses but this may be an option for those who
do.

[0] [https://blutechlenses.com](https://blutechlenses.com)

[1] [https://justgetflux.com](https://justgetflux.com)

~~~
user7878
I think screen manufacturer can provide option to buy product with the this
type of glasses in their display in built

------
villgax
Having two monitors at different distances/angles is what has worked for me
after almost a year of pomodoro'ing with no better results & slightly blurry
eyes at the end of a work day.

Also look at monitors by moving your eyes & not your entire head, just like
pilots.

Finally drink lots of water every hour. The pee breaks will help with
sedentary lifestyle problems, improve circulation, give your eyelids a break &
act as a breather between work bouts.

------
justaguyhere
My sister had high power, she went to a yoga class and learned some exercises
- these were simple (twice a day, doing something simple like look
up/down/left/right etc, plus she got a specific cup to wash her eyes) and her
power went down quite a bit. She also made sure to look away from the screen
often and she got a good night's sleep. This definitely helped in her case.

------
pjanos
Had pain, sensitivity to light and trouble focusing all caused by dryness due
to 2 factors: 1\. not enough blinking (staring at the screen while
concetrating) 2\. Oil glands in eyelids getting stuck and causing suboptimal
tear quality

Did two things: 1\. purposely blinked more often 2\. warmed up eyelids and
massaged them from bottom up to stimulate oil glands and get them unstuck
twice a day

Solved all problems in two weeks.

Hope it helps, good luck!

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sachin18590
Can you elaborate on why you think this might be due to screen exposure? Just
curious since I often have a vision pain too, but was not sure if that is
indeed because of screentime. I tend to take time off from screen at regular
intervals and maintain healthy lighting around etc.

------
Spooky23
> I work 8 hours a day in an office with a computer. At home I usually spend
> about 3 hours a day at the computer (social network, programming, side
> projects, HN, ...).

> Someone has some tips to avoid eye problems?

1\. Stop doing that.

2\. Make sure that lights are appropriately bright around you.

3\. Stop drinking Diet Soda or similar drinks.

~~~
thepredestrian
What does diet soda have anything to do with eyes?

~~~
Spooky23
The artificial sweeteners can interfere with the optic nerve and can damage
blood vessels in the eye. The impact is much worse for smokers and diabetics.

I had a personal experience with this in my 20s. I was in a situation where I
was working on a project that left me working long shifts in a dim area, and
started having peripheral flashes of light. That's a sign of retina
detachment, so I was rushed off to the ophthalmologist. They went through a
bunch of stuff and it turned out I was ingesting extreme amounts of aspartame.
(>12 cups of coffee and 8-10 Diet Cokes a day) From a medical POV, more than 4
cans of diet soda is considered "high" use. I stopped sweetening coffee and
moved to seltzer the next day and the symptoms were gone in 48 hours.

Diet Soda is bad stuff for many reasons. You're better off with drinking
sugared soda or beer.

------
Jemm
Avoiding light grey text on a pale yellow background (like Hacker News) is a
good start to saving your eyes.

------
lovelearning
I do these: Keep all device brightness levels at their lowest. Use "night
mode" if available. Prefer natural lighting if available. At nights, keep
indoor lighting dim. Sit under the sky at night and focus eyes on stars. Eye
exercises (rotate eyes inside closed sockets CW and CCW).

------
livenoworelse
Get Blue light blocking glasses like Gamma Rays. I've been in the business 30
years and do need some reading glasses, but for the most part not any issues.
The Gamma Rays (or something like it) really ease the stress on the eyes.
Probably use a screen 12 hours a day unfortunately!!

------
jongomez
Here's one that sounds obvious but I rarely see people point out: close your
eyes. If your eyes are tired, just close them for a for a while. Let your
eyelids do some work. That's one of their main functions after all - to
protect the eye.

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EyeThrow
[https://lifespa.com/home-ayurvedic-eye-treatment-ghee-
netra-...](https://lifespa.com/home-ayurvedic-eye-treatment-ghee-netra-
tarpana/)

Worked very well for me for dry eyes due to pollution.

------
mondo9000
DevTools Theme: Zero Dark Matrix if you are looking at chrome inspector,
[https://darkreader.org/](https://darkreader.org/), f.lux, dark mode in your
IDE

~~~
jessemillar
I can't live without f.lux
([https://justgetflux.com/](https://justgetflux.com/)). Dark mode in all apps
possible and looking away frequently generally help me as well as parent.

------
amibang
It is not healthy to sit in a chair staring at a screen all day. Consider
early retirement or a change of career, if you can.

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rajacombinator
In addition to using a program like flux, develop your awareness of your
monitor brightness. Adjust it throughout the day so that it is neither too
bright nor too dim.

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dyeje
I started having eye strain issues around 25. For me, I was able to fix it by
lowering the brightness of my monitor / laptop to the minimum for it to look
'normal' to me.

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arikr
The app "Time Out" is really good for this on Mac. I've used it daily for
probably the last six months, it automatically helps you do eye breaks.

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emmelaich
The "glasses off" smartphone app has some good reviews.

But I'd just echo others advice and say look out the window frequently.

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bitxbitxbitcoin
flux!

~~~
jackbin
What about a dark theme in Code Editor (something like default Sublime theme)?

~~~
bitxbitxbitcoin
That certainly doesn't hurt. My favorite of the other comments is the 20/20/20
rule. If you had to only choose one choose that one. But ideally, choose them
all.

------
expopinions
Your eyes are an important part of your health. There are many things you can
do to keep them healthy and make sure you are seeing your best. Follow these
simple steps for maintaining healthy eyes well into your golden years.

Have a comprehensive dilated eye exam. You might think your vision is fine or
that your eyes are healthy, but visiting your eye care professional for a
comprehensive dilated eye exam is the only way to really be sure. When it
comes to common vision problems, some people don’t realize they could see
better with glasses or contact lenses. In addition, many common eye diseases
such as glaucoma, diabetic eye disease and age-related macular degeneration
often have no warning signs. A dilated eye exam is the only way to detect
these diseases in their early stages.

During a comprehensive dilated eye exam, your eye care professional places
drops in your eyes to dilate, or widen, the pupil to allow more light to enter
the eye the same way an open door lets more light into a dark room. This
enables your eye care professional to get a good look at the back of the eyes
and examine them for any signs of damage or disease. Your eye care
professional is the only one who can determine if your eyes are healthy and if
you’re seeing your best.

Know your family’s eye health history. Talk to your family members about their
eye health history. It’s important to know if anyone has been diagnosed with a
disease or condition since many are hereditary. This will help to determine if
you are at higher risk for developing an eye disease or condition.

Eat right to protect your sight. You’ve heard carrots are good for your eyes.
But eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, particularly dark leafy
greens such as spinach, kale, or collard greens is important for keeping your
eyes healthy, too.

i

Research has also shown there are eye health benefits from eating fish high in
omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, tuna, and halibut.

Maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight or obese increases your risk of
developing diabetes and other systemic conditions, which can lead to vision
loss, such as diabetic eye disease or glaucoma. If you are having trouble
maintaining a healthy weight, talk to your doctor.

Wear protective eyewear. Wear protective eyewear when playing sports or doing
activities around the home. Protective eyewear includes safety glasses and
goggles, safety shields, and eye guards specially designed to provide the
correct protection for a certain activity. Most protective eyewear lenses are
made of polycarbonate, which is 10 times stronger than other plastics. Many
eye care providers sell protective eyewear, as do some sporting goods stores.

Quit smoking or never start. Smoking is as bad for your eyes as it is for the
rest of your body. Research has linked smoking to an increased risk of
developing age-related macular degeneration, cataract, and optic nerve damage,
all of which can lead to blindness.

Be cool and wear your shades. Sunglasses are a great fashion accessory, but
their most important job is to protect your eyes from the sun’s ultraviolet
rays. When purchasing sunglasses, look for ones that block out 99 to 100
percent of both UV-A and UV-B radiation.

Give your eyes a rest. If you spend a lot of time at the computer or focusing
on any one thing, you sometimes forget to blink and your eyes can get
fatigued. Try the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, look away about 20 feet in
front of you for 20 seconds. This can help reduce eyestrain.

Clean your hands and your contact lensesproperly. To avoid the risk of
infection, always wash your hands thoroughly before putting in or taking out
your contact lenses. Make sure to disinfect contact lenses as instructed and
replace them as appropriate.

Practice workplace eye safety. Employers are required to provide a safe work
environment. When protective eyewear is required as a part of your job, make a
habit of wearing the appropriate type at all times and encourage your
coworkers to do the same.

