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Ask HN: how do you prevent computer related eye fatigue?

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Re: Ask HN: how do you prevent computer related eye fatigue?

#21

Post by TunaFish »

manniwood wrote: post #16

Agree with poster who said ambient light should match brightness of monitor. I always turn my monitor brightness/contrast WAY down so that I don't feel like I'm staring at a light bulb all day. This simple adjustment does wonders for the eyes.

What worked for me was changing from black on white setup to white on black -- in whatever editor you use, make the background you stare all day black. MUCH easier on the eyes.

Re: Ask HN: how do you prevent computer related eye fatigue?

#24

Post by jcl »

I've read that putting a light behind your monitor helps relax the eyes (i.e. illuminating the wall around the edges of the monitor) -- and it seems to work OK for me.

I think the theory is that it increases the amount of light entering the eye peripherally, which contracts the pupil slightly, helping focus.

Re: Ask HN: how do you prevent computer related eye fatigue?

#25

Post by corysama »

One factor that helps me is to set my IDE syntax coloring schemes to minimize the amount of blue one the screen. Mostly yellow, green and brown text with hilights of grey or cyan on a black background.

Staring at glowing text is much better than staring between the glow in a futile effort to mimic paper. Blue light makes focusing more difficult.

Re: Ask HN: how do you prevent computer related eye fatigue?

#26

Post by silencio »

rodrigo wrote: post #11

I was using regular red eye drops on a daily basis, but they seemed to increase the damage. Now i use this natural eye drops made from Hamamelis ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamamelis ) and they help a lot, seemingly without side effects.

I was told by my ophthalmologist to not use those red eye drops. I wear contacts half of the day, and I typically use rewetting drops or Systane eye lube... definitely cuts down my cause of red eye and discomfort (typically dry eyes or something in the contacts that the liquid tends to flush out and wetten).

Re: Ask HN: how do you prevent computer related eye fatigue?

#27

Post by silencio »

pxlpshr wrote: post #13
shubhamharnal wrote: post #2

www.gunnars.com has a range of glasses to deal with this; I have a pair from them and they really do work.

I've looked at those, and even called a few of their executives to see who's in charge of TX sales. I had a friendly response but very little follow through, it surprises me that they aren't doing more with geeks TBH. Austin may not be the valley, but I was extremely surprised that I couldn't find a dealer anywhere to try them on. Can you tell me anything more about your experience with them? Which model do you have?…

Newegg actually sells non-prescription Gunnars. I've been looking into those since I'd like a pair of computer glasses to try.

And if you thought finding a dealer was hard, I'm having a hard time finding a dealer that'll do prescription lenses, unless I'm overlooking something completely obvious and all of them can do it with an eyeglass prescription...doh.

Re: Ask HN: how do you prevent computer related eye fatigue?

#28

Post by vincekrish »

niels_olson wrote: post #18

First, keep in mind you may be having symptoms of a refractive error or systemic disease (diabetes, allergies, thyroid disease, etc). So keep that in mind. I'm forwarding this to a soon-to-be ophthalmology resident fiend. To make his read more functional, please describe your symptoms more specifically. These are just some questions I came up with. It's not a validated screening tool or anything like that: When do yo…

For the past few months I have been having problems driving at night after a day's work in front of the computer. I am not able to cope with the bright headlamps of oncoming vehicles, esp. in places where there are no street lamps. On weekends though I find the problem not to be that acute. All doctors I consulted told me that I have perfect eyesight. They suggested I wear anti-glare glasses. But that solves the issue only to an extent. Apart from this issue of driving at night I have not yet experienced any other issues with my eyesight like reading or even driving in daylight. I am curious to know whether anyone else is experiencing the same problem.

Re: Ask HN: how do you prevent computer related eye fatigue?

#29

Post by shubhamharnal »

pxlpshr wrote: post #13
shubhamharnal wrote: post #2

www.gunnars.com has a range of glasses to deal with this; I have a pair from them and they really do work.

I've looked at those, and even called a few of their executives to see who's in charge of TX sales. I had a friendly response but very little follow through, it surprises me that they aren't doing more with geeks TBH. Austin may not be the valley, but I was extremely surprised that I couldn't find a dealer anywhere to try them on. Can you tell me anything more about your experience with them? Which model do you have?…

I apologize for taking sooo long to get back to you on this: I own a pair of Sphere Halogens. I bought them since I felt at the end of the day(having stared at the screen for hours together, that I had eye-fatigue, related headaches and dryness.) After trying out the Halogens for a few days, instant relief! I would say it is totally worthwhile expenditure if you feel eye fatigue; obviously a whole lotta people seem to do good without them...so good for them. They have really helped me alleviate my eye-fatigue and I can now work longer on my computer and follow-up on other things in life after having worked on computers, without feeling burnt-out. Hope this helps.
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