Your prescription might not be correct.
Ask HN: Do your eyes bug you even though your prescription is "correct"?
181–190 of 334 posts
Re: Ask HN: Do your eyes bug you even though your prescription is "correct"?
#182Dry eye is a major issue for people who stare at screens. You most likely aren't blinking enough, which causes your eyes to dry out.
Quoting a previous comment of mine (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42796950#42797424)
> A big thing not often spoken about with eye strain is dry eye caused by the lack of blinking due to focusing on screens too close to our face. This is an evolutionary phenomenon--close dangers cause extreme focus without blinking. Extreme focus on close items reduces our blinks. Our eye lids have glands in them that release oils on your eye with each blink. These oils help prevent the watery part of your tears from evaporating. When it evaporates your eyes dry out causing discomfort and potentially pain.
> If you don't blink enough, the oil doesnt get on your eyes and eventually, in extreme cases, the glands can even die. A lack of oil in tears can cause extreme eye fatigue and even pain.
> This is why dry eyes is on the rise. Remember to blink!
> I actually built a little web app to count my blinks. See https://dryeyestuff.com/. Not perfect, just a prototype. 100% free.
Re: Ask HN: Do your eyes bug you even though your prescription is "correct"?
#183The solution for me to eliminate headaches when working at computer screens was getting an extra set of intermediate distance glasses specifically for computer work. The "computer screen distance" of 3 ft is in between book-reading distance of 1 feet and driving distance 20'+ feet. I also avoid progressive lenses or high-index lenses for computer work. I commented about how arrived at this solution previously: https:…
I can second this, after getting PRK I ended up slightly farsighted after being majorly nearsighted, I did a intermediate pupillary distance between my distance PD and near PD and its great for how I use a computer which is 99% of reading I do.
Re: Ask HN: Do your eyes bug you even though your prescription is "correct"?
#184Yes, two things helped.
Less powerful glasses for closer work and high index lenses.
Re: Ask HN: Do your eyes bug you even though your prescription is "correct"?
#185Earlier quoted context omitted.
> book-reading distance of 1 feet 12 inches? that's way too close
Can’t find the message you’re replying to but I think you’re imagining the person sitting up. Imagine them lying down or propped up on their elbows with the book on the floor. Then that distance seems about right.
That's way too close for books or screens. Long term it can cause myopia.
Re: Ask HN: Do your eyes bug you even though your prescription is "correct"?
#186Before I got my first pair of progressives lenses I saw a lot of conflicting anecdotal accounts. After doing research, the conclusion I came to was simple: I got the very best progressive lens that Lens Crafters sells because the best lens has a much larger intermediate “corridor” size than less expensive progressive lenses. I have had zero issues with my progressive lenses. I forget I even “have” progressive lenses…
I thought similarly and went with the most expensive lenses with the largest "corridor" for my first pair of progressives. They're great for up close and distance, but for me so far, the middle distance region for screens is a sham. There's almost no spot where the monitor is both clear and non-straining, and the tiniest shift of my head causes warping or blurring. I've had them redone but it didn't solve the fundame…
I'm not the person you replied to but the solution, in my opinion, is computer vision lenses. I have progressive lenses and, at my current prescription, I really can't use my computer well with them. It's basically a necessity to use my computer glasses now.
What's great with this lenses for computer use is that anything from screen to close up is clear so they're great for hobby work, etc.
Re: Ask HN: Do your eyes bug you even though your prescription is "correct"?
#187Tons of responses so I don't know if you'll read this but a few things: Post-concussion syndrome (and screens) After getting a concussion, I had to change my screens in a big way. Many people have heard of sensitivity to PWM and low frequency PWM in particular. The alternative is DC dimming, and it helps tremendously. Additionally, higher refresh rates seem to help. At least 120 Hz but preferably 144, 165 or higher.…
PWM is a real concern that impacts, say, 10% of the population, and probably only 0.1% are aware of it. It's been a growing, silent epidemic due to a very clear culprit: OLED screens, particularly on cell phones.
Phone manufacturers know that OLED screens cause eye strain, and they've tried to mitigate it, but it's still sort of an unsolved problem that phone manufacturers haven't prioritized. For the most part, they tend to prioritize making the problem worse over time.
A quick intro to the topic: https://flickeralliance.org/pages/about-flicker
Personally, I am grateful to have an LCD laptop (the MacBook M2 Air's screen is a godsend), and I hope more people would recognize OLED PWM as the source of their eyes strain and complain about it, so that manufacturers change their priorities.
Re: Ask HN: Do your eyes bug you even though your prescription is "correct"?
#188My optometrist told me that I have a tendency to 'overcompensate' the last time I had my rx checked; I now tell the optometrists that I have a tendency to overcompensate and ask that they dilate my eyes before anything starts and it's really helped me reduce eye strain.
Same here: it's called "accommodative excess". And in particular, it won't show up on a vision test.
I always got 20/20 on my vision tests, but kept complaining to different optometrists, and finally found one smart enough to recognize my situation, and now I wear -0.5 lenses. It brought my life out of a very dark place.
Re: Ask HN: Do your eyes bug you even though your prescription is "correct"?
#189I’ve found the best solution to eye strain is just turning down my screen brightness. It’s solved all my problems, and I can stare at a screen as long as I need to now
Or using dark mode. There are chrome extensions that force dark mode on every page.
I personally can't last 1 minute on a white screen, and bringing brightness too low isn't without its issues.
Re: Ask HN: Do your eyes bug you even though your prescription is "correct"?
#190A blue light filter on my lenses helped reduce eye strain. Certainly worth considering and works better/less noticeably than the screen adjusting it's blue and red balance.
I also have caterscts that have made screen time progressively less fun for long periods of time. It's time that I took care of them.