Ask HN: How do you take care of your eyes? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do you take care of your eyes?

27 pointspvsukale330 comments

Recently I have been spending a lot of time with my laptop ( programming stuff :D ) .I am having a hard time with my eyes. They dry up sometimes. Off course I m gonna see a doctor about it. But what are the techniques / apps you use to keep your eyes healthy working long hours in front of a screen?

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I've posted about this in the past but I have "suffered" from an eye condition for the last several years due to I think extreme computer use and an overhead HVAC vent (I think).

I've seen a few Ophthalmologists, official diagnosis is Blepharitis but ultimately my eyes are constantly tired, floaters, sharp pains, dry from the moment I wake up and have nearly constant muscle spasms.

I've tried fish oil, antibiotics, Restasis, numerous drops and gels, various apps, changing behavior etc. I haven't found the silver bullet but I give my eye lids massages and try to drink plenty of water and try to avoid environments that make it worse. I limit computer use to work hours only and am in a role where I only really use a computer for ~4 hours a day. The last few years things haven't gotten worse but haven't gotten better either.

Best advice I can give is take breaks and have hobbies that don't require a computer.

Same here. At my previous job, my desk was positioned directly below an HVAC vent. This was in DC, and I used to feel more relieved stepping outside into 90 degree humidity, because my eyes were so parched.

Someone really needs to invent a detachable, re-sizable vent cover that can block or redirect air flow, and yet still be easily removable for irritating building superintendent inspections.

The following are just search results on amazon. I have not used any of them:

https://www.amazon.com/Accord-APSWDF-Adjustable-Deflector-Re... https://www.amazon.com/Elima-Draft-Commercial-Deflector-Cove... https://www.amazon.com/Magnum-Magnetic-30mil-Flexible-Materi...

That's very useful, thanks. I like the 2nd option. Fortunately, I have since moved on to another job, but I will definitely keep these in mind.

Stupid question, but would wearing a baseball cap help?

I am female and work in an office setting with a dress code. Otherwise, I agree that that makes a lot of sense!

Have you had lasik?

I have not had Lasik. From what I've read, it sounds like it makes dry eye even worse. You?

I use Time Out app for OS X. Spend some time reading articles about this topic and you'll understand that the most important is to take breaks and avoid long hours in same position. I set it up to lock my screen with postpone button for normal breaks and no button at all for micro breaks. Normal breaks are 2min every 2h and micro 20sec every 30min-1h. While on break I try to move eyes in different directions which is like going to eye gym :D

Are you having any vision problems or just problems with dry eyes? Do you get headaches more frequently than before? Do your eyes constantly feel tired?

I wear glasses and would describe my eye problems as being mostly about having dry, tired eyes. As I age, my prescription is changing so I almost need bifocals (but I'm too stubborn to get them).

With those issues, the following has worked very well for me:

1.) Eye drops. Visine is absolutely amazing and, as a bonus, whenever my daughter keeps me awake all night, my eyes aren't red the next day.

2.) Walks. Since my daughter was born, I have been putting on the pounds. So, I kill two birds with one stone and go for a walk about every two hours.

3.) Change my focal point. There's the old 20:20:20 rule (every twenty minutes, focus on an object twenty feet away for twenty seconds). I'm not that rigorous, but I do something similar.

4.) Force myself to blink. At a hackathon in December, I sat across from a developer who told me that I don't blink very often when I am deep in thought. Oops.

I have had dry eye issues for over 20 years. Here is what's helped me:

1. For early morning dryness: I use drops that are less viscous. For some reason, these help me more than the thick, gel types. I empty one vial across both eyes within 5 minutes of waking up.

2. Get a minimum of 8 hours of shut-eye. I generally try to be in bed, lights off, and listening to a very boring, non-stimulating audiobook with my eyes shut by 10PM. I'm an insomniac, so this is quite a milestone for me.

3. Drink plenty of water, exercise, avoid pro-inflammatory foods.

4. Avoid medications that can cause dry eye (I know, easier said than done). https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2013/07/15/drugs-that-can-ca...

You may not be blinking enough. I do this sometimes when playing RTS games. After a while my eyes dry out and it's a mix of pain, blurry vision and halos around light sources until I can let them rest and return to normal. Eyedrops accelerate the restorative process, and probably would serve as a good preventative too.

I suggest first minimizing eye strain by ensuring you have proper background light, and that your screen brightness isn't too high. Beyond that, try and remember to blink. It helps to take a moment every once and a while and just close your eyes for a few seconds. Even better if you just take regular breaks, focusing on something other than your screen for a few minutes. Periodic breaks have benefits that extend far beyond just your eyes.

To those that have suggested eye drops, I highly recommend some of the gels/creams you can get for nightly use. They not only help your eyes feel relaxed before bed and when you wake up, but they also have the benefit of helping you sleep better if you suffer from dry eyes.

From what a doctor told me after a recent abrasion, your eyes move around while you sleep, and if you have dry eyes your eyelids will irritate your eyes. Obviously, if they irritate you enough it'll disrupt your sleep. After a few days of use when my eyes started to heal I slept like a baby, and felt great after waking up.

I still regularly use eye drops, but if my eyes are noticeably dry I'll use the eye gel during the night, and by the next day my eyes will feel great.

I have computer glasses that have a prescription specifically for computer distance. If I don't have those, I can still work, but I will have headaches that day and be less productive. (I'm quite nearsighted normally and wear transition bifocals to see in the distance, but they're not well suited for looking at a computer).

And then about once an hour or so I get up and walk around, preferably outside and look up at the sky for a few minutes (focusing on a different distance). You could even just focus on a far wall or something instead, but I prefer nature. I've read that that helps once somewhere and it does seem to help for me.

I use eye drop vials (the kind that have no preservative). I put them on a subscription so I never run out and they're always kept at the right temperature (important).

Experiment with a different screen and ambient brightness level everyday till you find a combination that's most comfortable for your eyes. For me, it is keeping displays on their lowest brightness level + no bright white lights around. Been doing this from 2+ decades now, and spent hours daily in front of every kind of display including 45 Hz bulky CRT monitors. Only time I've had eye pain was when there were bright white ambient lighting around.

Increasing font size. One of the first things I did when I joined McKinsey. Still have no clue how or why some of my colleagues keep the default font settings..

What really ended up helping me was getting a pair of Gunnar glasses. Plus, you may be able to get them through a health savings account if you're in the states. A bunch of colleagues now also use Gunnars (or similar) and all have had an improvement in eye strain/pain.

I also use f.lux as well as using saline eye drops at the beginning and end of the day.

My issue is f.lux does not work for multiple monitors - it only dimmed one of them. I could not find any alternative when I looked.

I have Eyezen lenses in my glasses and they're a godsend. My eyes are noticabely less strained, no more dry eyes and my headaches are almost completely gone. The lenses are a combination of a very light multifocus and a blue light filter.

Of course, nothing beats spending a little less time looking at the screen, though...

Some screens give off more radiation than others. You may not need to get a new screen. There are filters you can buy for the screen that can help. But I have noticed that some computer screens really just make my face feel burned if I sit too close for too long, and others don't have that effect.

https://justgetflux.com/

My eye doc recommended Flax oil - 1 Tablespoon a day. Did that for a while with minimal results, upped it to two and it's starting to work...just have to work up to that slowly otherwise it...impacts your digestion

My only solution is to spend less and less time on the computer. I know I might never know as much as others have and I might never earn as much but I believe health is more important.

I installed a break reminder app and when it displays a notice, I stare out of the window.

Frankly, I don't know what do do else. I'd be curious for tips people have.

Keep the display at a level below eye level. Also look at something far away to give the eyes some rest.

UPDATE : I went to the doctor. I have been given presciption of glasses with -0.25 point. Is it important to wear them?

For negative prescriptions, I would suggest always wearing them. While 0.25 is very small, its still better, and can reduce headaches. The effect of not wearing glasses is that your brain makes you squint, squeezing the lens of your eye slightly. Over longer periods of time this causes muscle fatigue around your eyes leading to odd conditions, perhaps like the one you described.

This is all from personal experience and I am not a doctor

Look away from your screen, water your eyes by blinking 15-20 times in a row. Repeat every 10 to 15 minutes.

periodic breaks is the best thing outside of f.lux or other screen dimmers/temp apps.

I try to couple it with short meditation breaks, 5-7 mins, to get in the habit of switching my brain off and giving my eyes a rest.

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