If you're over 40 and have been wearing glasses for years, you might now need a pair with a weaker prescription just for computer use.
Or progressives (aka bifocals.)
What about computer glasses?
Ask HN: Do your eyes bug you even though your prescription is "correct"?
31–40 of 334 posts
Re: Ask HN: Do your eyes bug you even though your prescription is "correct"?
#32If you're over 40 and have been wearing glasses for years, you might now need a pair with a weaker prescription just for computer use.
Or progressives (aka bifocals.)
I have progressives and computer glasses.
If I accidentally wear the progressives at my desk, I usually notice within half an hour that I'm not comfortable.
With the computer glasses, everything is clear (including my laptop screen, which is below my monitor).
Re: Ask HN: Do your eyes bug you even though your prescription is "correct"?
#33I'm nearsighted with no astigmatism, so I have a simple -2/-2 prescription (if I remember correctly). I sit at a screen 8-16 hours a day. I get strong headaches every single day, for which I keep a supply of ibuprofen at work and home. 400mg a day is generally plenty. I do not wear my glasses while at the screen, as it's close enough that I don't have any issues. I suspect my headaches are neck muscle related, not ey…
Taking pain meds daily for life doesn't seem like a good plan. Maybe try e-ink? There are e-ink monitors on the market if that works, if the problem's the light. You can also try software like Redshift[1] for regular monitors. If it's your neck, at least put some books under your monitor stand, if you're not able to get better monitor mounts. Or lower your chair. You should be looking straight ahead for your monitor,…
If it's posture related, here's more free advise: try sitting on stools rather than on chairs with a back, and sit up straight and keep your arms actively powered while typing (not laying on a surface). Also, when you need to think for a minute get up and walk around.
Re: Ask HN: Do your eyes bug you even though your prescription is "correct"?
#34Slightly related: does anyone do eye “exercises”? As in, for 5 minutes, move the eyes all around in a 360 degrees fashion, alternating with left to right (and right to left) movements. I use the computer many hours per day and that means my eyes are usually fixed at a 27 inch monitor for hours. I think the exercises are “strengthening” my eyes muscles… not sure if true though.
Re: Ask HN: Do your eyes bug you even though your prescription is "correct"?
#35Yes, I'm very nearsighted. I've worn progressive lenses for years but they continue to drive me crazy. I can see fine with them, but my eyes easily get fatigued and I have to take long breaks to get them to calm down. Over the summer I added a pair of progressive occupational lenses (not reading glasses). They are focused arms length in front of me. This has been a complete game changer. I can now see my monitor cris…
this totally works. I also had a someone add in prism, which really did help fatigue. but for reasons I ended up using the occupational almost all the time, and ended up really screwing with my ability to use perspective to gauge distance. now I'm really poor at judging the sizes of things and I used to be able to tell you at half a meter if it was a 10-32 or a 5mm screw
Re: Ask HN: Do your eyes bug you even though your prescription is "correct"?
#36I'm nearsighted with no astigmatism, so I have a simple -2/-2 prescription (if I remember correctly). I sit at a screen 8-16 hours a day. I get strong headaches every single day, for which I keep a supply of ibuprofen at work and home. 400mg a day is generally plenty. I do not wear my glasses while at the screen, as it's close enough that I don't have any issues. I suspect my headaches are neck muscle related, not ey…
Are you using a laptop (looking downwards) or are you using a proper screen setup?
Re: Ask HN: Do your eyes bug you even though your prescription is "correct"?
#37I'm nearsighted with a slight bit of astigmatism. (-6 or so). I got progressive lenses the last time around at the optician. I hated the whole process; it was desperate and high-pressure sales. I hate the progressive lenses because using them requires tilting your head at awkward angles. I hate that the near-sighted prescriptions are regulated as much as they are.
I ended up self-serving at eyebuydirect.com. For the price of the highway robbery at the local optician I got 6 pairs of reasonable quality frames with regular lenses stepping along a range I guessed I need for computer work. And I couldn't be happier, even though I ignored the astigmatism bit. It's possible there is a bit of that engineer DIY itch that got scratched in the process as well :-)
Re: Ask HN: Do your eyes bug you even though your prescription is "correct"?
#38Anecdotally related, but, during Covid and remote work I went to an optometrist around age 35 after I noticed my distance vision was blurry, especially at night after working inside all day.
They told me "you have 20/20 vision, your vision is completely fine, you don't need glasses!" But, I responded, my vision is definitely blurry. They politely told me to stop wasting their time.
Dissatisfied, I went to another optometrist, and paid closer attention to the whole process. After some discussion with the doctor, we arrived at the conclusion - I've had essentially 20/7 vision my entire life, and now in certain circumstances my vision has degraded to 20/20!
They gave me a prescription and now I am perfectly happy having laser-sharp vision again when I want it.
Re: Ask HN: Do your eyes bug you even though your prescription is "correct"?
#39Also look at a doctor specializing in small prisms. Sometimes your eyes don't perfectly align at their resting state so one eye is constantly constantly using muscles to pull it centered. For me, that means when I get tired and those small muscles can't keep up, I get headaches and it gets worse. Neurovisual places can give very tiny prism additions so your eyes don't have to move but the light is "shifted" over.
Re: Ask HN: Do your eyes bug you even though your prescription is "correct"?
#40I'm nearsighted with no astigmatism, so I have a simple -2/-2 prescription (if I remember correctly). I sit at a screen 8-16 hours a day. I get strong headaches every single day, for which I keep a supply of ibuprofen at work and home. 400mg a day is generally plenty. I do not wear my glasses while at the screen, as it's close enough that I don't have any issues. I suspect my headaches are neck muscle related, not ey…
How much water do you drink? How much are you sleeping? Is your room dark when you sleep?
I get 7-8 hours of sleep, in a very dark and quiet room. No loud neighbors, no room-mates.
I think my water intake is fine, but I don't have a specific measurement.