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Ask HN: How are you taking care of you eyes?

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Re: Ask HN: How are you taking care of you eyes?

#101

Post by rjewell »

gdelfino01 wrote: post #97

I was having huge problems with eyesight strain. Just after an hour of computer use I would see blurry, shadows, double, light sensitivity, etc. I was even thinking about changing my profession. I tried many things like blue light filters, eye drops, improved refresh rates, max-hardware-brightness with reduced software-brightness, different light bulbs, eInk, orange glasses, red light therapy, larger monitor farther…

Just to echo, I experienced the same symptoms and it was largely relieved by getting mild prescription "computer glasses".

Over the next two years, I was able to better correlate these symptoms with sleep deprivation, as well. Lack of glasses exaggerates fatigue, but fatigue onset is much more aggressive when I don't sleep enough.

Re: Ask HN: How are you taking care of you eyes?

#102

Post by ajvs »

Aulig wrote: post #43

Since march of this year I stopped following my eye doctor's advice ("wear your glasses as much as possible otherwise your brain gets lazy", which is proven BS) and looked into endmyopia (i think i even read about it on HN), as I was getting into the risk zone for retinal detachment (6 diopters), which can lead to blindness. To sum it up: reduce the amount of near-work you do (looking at your monitor, smartphone, boo…

Great to see another reader out in the wild. Mainstream optometry just making the problem worse to keep you as a customer instead of curing you is the same sort of issue that happens in so many industries from orthodontics to nutrition.

Re: Ask HN: How are you taking care of you eyes?

#103

Post by michaelbuckbee »

Winsaucerer wrote: post #61
michaelbuckbee wrote: post #55

When I told my optometrist that I was a software developer he took me into this office and showed me his computer setup. Basically, he was a huge proponent of using massive TV screens in place of smaller computer monitors as it was so much easier on the eye. I'm typing this on my machine connected to a 55" 4k TV that's about 33" away from my face. Given how inexpensive 4k TVs are compared to monitors and how well the…

Have you noticed any difference with your 55" 4k TV setup compared to what you used before? I've often wondered about this, and considered the possibilities of high quality VR that could allow us to set up a virtual screen at any size and distance.

It's definitely easier on my eyes than trying to focus on a laptop screen and I feel pretty strongly that it's a big productivity boost to not have to flip around between a terminal, documentation, editor and output webpage constantly.

That being said standard window management really falls down with the larger screen real estate and I use a 3rd party window manager mapped to keyboard shortcuts to split the screen up into smaller chunks.

Re: Ask HN: How are you taking care of you eyes?

#104

Post by thih9 »

Loosely related, the MacBook Pro 2021 laptop display uses PWM [1], which is said to cause more eye fatigue. Does anyone know more about this? How much does it affect a typical user? Or are there ways to mitigate this?

PWM is also present on iPads and smartphones, but the laptop screen is something that is used more often and for longer periods of time; which is why I'm primarily interested in PWM in laptops.

[1]: "Like on the iPad Pro's Mini-LED screen, we can detect constant PWM flickering at all brightness levels.", https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple-MacBook-Pro-14-2021-M1-P...

Re: Ask HN: How are you taking care of you eyes?

#105

Post by dbcurtis »

rjewell wrote: post #101
gdelfino01 wrote: post #97

I was having huge problems with eyesight strain. Just after an hour of computer use I would see blurry, shadows, double, light sensitivity, etc. I was even thinking about changing my profession. I tried many things like blue light filters, eye drops, improved refresh rates, max-hardware-brightness with reduced software-brightness, different light bulbs, eInk, orange glasses, red light therapy, larger monitor farther…

Just to echo, I experienced the same symptoms and it was largely relieved by getting mild prescription "computer glasses". Over the next two years, I was able to better correlate these symptoms with sleep deprivation, as well. Lack of glasses exaggerates fatigue, but fatigue onset is much more aggressive when I don't sleep enough.

Another vote for cumputer-distance prescription.

Also, I have two monitors so naturally switch my gaze between the two through the day as I work, which helps.

One monitor is very large, and I set the resolution low so fonts and such are uncommonly large. Why strain?

Remember to look up and into the distance every few minutes.

Re: Ask HN: How are you taking care of you eyes?

#106

Post by nitred »

jordanmorgan10 wrote: post #44

Does anyone have any first hand experience with the blue light filtering glasses? Is it snake oil or does it actually work? My eyes aren’t great anyways, and I fear for the beating they are taking due to my proclivity to stare at a monitor hours on end.

Depends on the blue light filtering glasses you use. I have a -0.75 prescription D and my historical average screen-time over the last 10 years is around 8-10 hours per day (including weekends).

I've been prescribed regular glasses for my myopia with blue light filter and the doctor insisted I use them while I am in front of the screen. These don't work. I started off as a biomedical engineer, so I know that myopia correcting glasses actually make your eye muscles work more i.e. not-relaxed. If anything I argue that you need to use a lower prescription or an opposite prescription to keep your eyes relaxed (not medical advice).

I was struggling with headaches and tiredness due to my excessive screen use even with my prescription glasses. Then I found Gunnar Intercept glasses with 65 Amber tint. Completely different experience. If I get up from the screen, it's not because of tiredness. As a matter of fact, I have been institutionalized - I cannot work in front of the screen without these glasses.

It takes an entire day to get used to the amber tint, but once you get over it, you can't go back. My opinion but I would recommend trying them out if you can afford a $50 experiment.

Re: Ask HN: How are you taking care of you eyes?

#107

Post by RealityVoid »

Aulig wrote: post #59
heavenlyblue wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really like when people say this about screens and never mention books at all. Can someone with some strong contextual knowledge provide ANY references actually linking myopia/astigmatism to reading? I would argue actually being on the street in quickly changing weather (very dry air, very humid air, extreme cold/heat) probably has a larger effect on what happens to your eyes, but even that is arguably very weak.

All near-work affects eyes, so books too. You can look up "near induced transient myopia" on google scholar. I'm on a slow connection, so I can't right now, sorry.

Ok, that's a thing, but it's right in the name, it's transient. I mean, we don't _know_ for sure what causes myopia, and it does seem there is something with our lifestyle, I am just not convinced that the obvious answer "staring at close things" is the correct one. In my experience as someone with myopia, staring at close things is a side effect of myopia, in that you need to get closed to see, and, I presume, not the thing that causes it, but a really fun confounding factor.

And to @heavenlyblue - don't worry, people have been saying the same things about books as well. I remember reading "Diary of a Short-Sighted Adolescent" and his parents wouldn't let him read because he was short sighted, y'know, for his health. The belief that stairing at close things is causing myopia is common, but, as far as I can tell, not based on any conclusive science. It's just that recently it's more in vogue to be concerned by technology than by books, and, beside, these days, most people stare at screens and phones rather than books.

Re: Ask HN: How are you taking care of you eyes?

#108

Post by Aulig »

CountDrewku wrote: post #98
Aulig wrote: post #43

Since march of this year I stopped following my eye doctor's advice ("wear your glasses as much as possible otherwise your brain gets lazy", which is proven BS) and looked into endmyopia (i think i even read about it on HN), as I was getting into the risk zone for retinal detachment (6 diopters), which can lead to blindness. To sum it up: reduce the amount of near-work you do (looking at your monitor, smartphone, boo…

What if you can't even see a screen with out glasses? I'm -8 both eyes and I have to be like 6 inches from a 27" monitor to see words clearly. Seriously considering lens implants since my eyes are too bad for lasik.

That's very common, you use weaker glasses for near work then, so around -6 or -6.5 depending on your distance from your screen.

You can find more information on that on the endmyopia page or wiki by looking for "differential glasses"

Re: Ask HN: How are you taking care of you eyes?

#109

Post by duffyjp »

michaelbuckbee wrote: post #55

When I told my optometrist that I was a software developer he took me into this office and showed me his computer setup. Basically, he was a huge proponent of using massive TV screens in place of smaller computer monitors as it was so much easier on the eye. I'm typing this on my machine connected to a 55" 4k TV that's about 33" away from my face. Given how inexpensive 4k TVs are compared to monitors and how well the…

I've been doing this for YEARS and can confirm it's an amazing setup. I'm on my second 43" display. The first was a 4K TV and the new one is an Aorus 4K Gaming Monitor. It's high refresh rate and has a built in KVM switch. Not being a TV it turns on and off as you would expect a monitor to. I love it.

I plan to use this until OLED or equivalent new tech is burn-in proof.

Re: Ask HN: How are you taking care of you eyes?

#110

Post by nobodyandproud »

What I used to do, as someone who gamed heavily since middle school (I’m nearly 50):

- Go outside at least once a day (no later than lunch) and get and get a good deal of sunlight. Without glasses.

Preferably more than once a day.

- Take frequent breaks away. - Crank up the lights.

I can still function and read without glasses, though Covid has taken a toll (eyesight used to be 20/30, until covid; probably more like 30/40 now).

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