
Ask HN: How do you combat eye strain? - egonschiele
I just realized I have Computer Vision Syndrome[1]. I have most of the symptoms:<p>- Blurred vision
- Double vision
- Dry, red eyes
- Eye irritation
- Headaches
- Neck or back pain<p>I already use eye drops and take frequent breaks. Any other ideas?<p>[1] http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.webmd.com&#x2F;eye-health&#x2F;computer-vision-syndrome.
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ChaoticGood
My personal tips are to use daylight color temperature bulbs for lighting.
Type with a rolled towel around the neck for reducing next strain and
enforcing better posture.

I was just reading this guys blog post[1] titled "A Programmer's Ergonomic
Workstation" and he mentions he uses these amber tinted glasses called
gunners[2]

[1] [http://markshust.com/2014/03/31/programmers-ergonomic-
workst...](http://markshust.com/2014/03/31/programmers-ergonomic-workstation)
[2] [http://www.gunnars.com/how-they-work/](http://www.gunnars.com/how-they-
work/)

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Someone1234
I turn monitor's brightness down to around 30%. It helps a lot with eye
strain, at 100% my eyes get tired after only a few minutes, at 50% after a few
hours, and at 30% I can go all day.

Obviously these % depend on the monitor or screen. Some screens are brighter
than others. However most Dell and LG monitors are set way way too bright by
default (something I call "showroom mode," essentially set to look nice, not
work well).

30% is still plenty bright. Whites are still white, not washed out and gray
(which happens around 10%).

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coreymaass
Follow the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for
20 seconds. I built a free little web app just for this purpose that I run all
day [http://prntscr.com/5vpbxg](http://prntscr.com/5vpbxg) Check out
[http://timerdoro.com](http://timerdoro.com) or use your phone's timer or
something.

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FiatLuxDave
I find a high level of correlation between eye strain with computer work and
dehydration. When I drink lots of water, I experience less eye strain. I don't
know if that will work for you, its just an idea.

I also know that it doesn't just have to do with taking a break, because
drinking once from a large container helps more than multiple drinks from
small containers.

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kw71
I am interested in more about your situation. Do you wear corrective lenses?
Have you tried reducing the backlighting on your display?

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egonschiele
Yes, glasses. And I have my brightness way down, and good lighting at work
(not too bright, not too dim).

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kw71
I wear glasses too because of nearsightedness. It took me several tries at
different eye doctors to find lenses that did not make me sick, but my
negative experiences were not only with video displays. I had problems driving
and reading, too. Of course I could read the letter charts in the doctors'
offices and in the driving license office. (edit: i was experimenting with
contact lenses at this time too)

Once I got the right lenses in front of my eyes, all was fine until I moved
away from a CRT display, which I had no problems with at 100% brightness. My
IPS display with CCFL backlight brought the pain back, until I set the
brightness to 15%. But I still experience eye fatigue after several hours.

I have my display elevated so it's really at eye level, and it's about 1 meter
away from my eyes so that looking at other clutter on my desk isn't a drastic
change in focal distance.

I have two soft halogen lamps over my desk for lighting. It would be better if
they were behind me. The lighting fixture has a switch to change the
electrical configuration from series to parallel. In parallel the lamps are
brighter and this produces a bit of glare so I only use them this way when I
am working on something mechanical on my desk.

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biggoof
I use Gunnar glasses for gaming, and sometimes coding. The yellow tint from
the glasses might help?

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coned88
Stop using IPS or TN monitors.

Buy monitors with VA panels and lower brightness. Your eye strain will go
away.

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avinassh
Give a try to f.lux.

~~~
mercnet
This helped my eye strain at night significantly. Disabling it at night and
seeing how intense the blue color was on my eyes sold me.

