Eye strain

[DrDonnyBrago]

BCF,

My day currently consists of 12+ hours sat in front of a computer in my home office. My eyes hurt like hell. Achey, hard to focus and after a day of PC use my eyesight is shite. I.e. can't see the numbers on a clock about 15ft away, in the morning I can.

I took a week off about a month ago and my eyes recovered completely, recently they have been getting bad again.

Anything I can do to alleviate the problem? Not being sat in front of a computer for 12 hours is not currently possible. I do take breaks away from the PC, but it doesn't seem to help for more than about 5 minutes.

I had an eye test at the beginning of the year and my eyesight was almost perfect.

[Bubbs]

[DrDonnyBrago]

[P.addy]

Lower the brightness down? Change the lighting in the room to the most natural light you can find / open all the curtains etc

[angryjonny]

[map]

A few things to check.
First your monitor and the refresh rate. Make sure it's ok. Change it and see if makes a difference. What is the age of the monitor(s). Maybe renew if 3+ years old.
Then maybe the office lighting in connection with the above.

If you get an eye test and need 'reading' glasses don't go for the reading prescription but insist on a monitor one. It's at a slightly greater distance and more suitable for work use.
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[shereen]

You need something like this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Glass-PC-Computer-Screen-Filter-Anti-Glare-Radiation-Static-16-17-inch-564577-/190706201121?pt=UK_Computing_Other_Computing_Networking&hash=item2c66f9b221
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[Alpha-9]

DSE requirements state the monitor should be an arms length away from you at least, which is retarded because my arms are much longer than my tiny colleagues!

Refresh rate check that too yes.

They say the light behind your screen should be bright like the screen so there's not as much contrast, if you're in a dark room with a bright screen your eyes have to work harder - Also bollocks IMO, I sit in front of a PC all day at work then go home and sit in a dark room with my PC on all night, my eyes don't hurt, yet.

Use your eyes more at different ranges.

Every hour or so focus on something far away
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[stinkwheel]

Reduce brightness, drop contrast a little. Don't work with a white background.
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[Suntan Sid]

Your eyesight is deteriorating, get some glasses or contacts so you're not straining your eyes at work.

The reason your eyes are "tired" is because you are refocussing them constantly, because your peepers don't work as well as they should.
Of the top of my head, I'd hazard a guess that eyesight very rarely improves with age, nor is it enhanced by staring at a computer screen all day.
Try an experiment, buy a set of, magnifying, reading glasses, you can get a set for a fiver or less, wear them at work for a couple of days and see if your eye strain diminishes, if it does go and see an optician and get a proper set.
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[CaNsA]

As above,

Ditch the bright wallpapers and use a nice dark one.
Switch to a dark theme and drop the brightness and contrast of the monitor.

[pinkyfloyd]

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[J.M.]

I'm suffering the exact same thing as you Donny. In the morning or a couple of days without a computer and my vision is perfect.

I've been to the opticians about it and there's basically not much that they can do. My options were:
- Glasses to wear whilst working on the computer, to reduce eye strain, and take them off to look far away (very impractical)
- Bifocals with one part as above and another part clear to look through whilst looking far away

Essentially the problem is because the muscles in your eyes have become "too strong". It makes it amazing for working up close and in detail with things but it takes a long time for your eyes to relax enough to see a far away enough problem. It's a common problem for people who spend a lot of time doing things up close; say people that read a lot, writers, computer people, etc.

A long shot but do you also get really bad red eye in flash photography photos? I think that's the reasing behind that. I look like the devil.

The reason that there were no glasses that could "solve" the problem was because my eye sight was really good, it's just a problem with the focusing.

The things that you can do to help yourself are, as listed above, reduce eye strain by lowering your brightness and working in good lighting conditions. The better lit an area is, the better. I always find that natural light works the best for me.

Secondly, suggested by my optician, you could try the 20:20:20 rule. The rule goes as follows:
- Every 20 minutes
- Look at an object at least 20 metres away (the sky is a good one)
- For 20 seconds

I find that doing that does help to relieve eye strain a bit, I forget to do it far too often though.
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[Cunnington]

Back when I was 16 and revising for my exams, I started getting headaches, so had my eyes tested. The optician said I was borderline long sighted and gave me the weakest prescription, which helped. By the time I left school I didn't use them because I developed coping mechanisms.

Twenty plus years later I still dont wear glasses, though my eyesight isn't as good as it was. I keep my monitor further away than most and it is only if I am using autocad or photoediting, where I am trying to get the mouse to within a pixel on the screen, that I struggle. I put it down to over-using muscles just like any other and give them a break at regular intervals.
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[iooi]

[DrDonnyBrago]

Cheers for the posts guys (and girl).


Darkening the background to a different colour isn't really possible because I am either reading PDFs with a white background or writing in Word, with a white background . EDIT: Just realised you can change the background colour of Word 2007 - pale yellow seems better.

Monitor is part of a laptop, about 1 year old. I keep the room well lit, natural light in the day and a lamp at night. I have turned my monitor brightness down and it seems a bit better. What should the refresh rate be?

I have followed the steps regarding seating position, distance to the screen etc from a work H+S thing I had to do ages ago, can't say it has helped though.

I went to the optician just prior to adopting the all day every day computer "lifestyle". I went because I was struggling to read the text on road signs after a normal length day at a PC monitor - he suggested the specs might help, but were not really necessary and that dodgy resolution of distant objects after a long day was to a degree, normal. I didn't have eye strain problems back then though. Might head back if I find the time.

[MinhDinh]

Get it tested again. Computers do affect your prescription if on it a lot. There are specs that may help relax your eyes.
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[iooi]

[daemonoid]

My eyes are similar to yours - fairly good, a little long sighted. I started to notice from an inability to concentrate in the afternoons rather than pain.

I have mildly corrective glasses with a bit of magnification (1.5x), makes a long day much easier.

Plus I make sure to walk around occasionally and look at things in the distance.
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[Cunnington]