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Comment by C-Loftus | Hacker News Reader

Are there any communities of others online dealing with general eye strain? Or other blogs / videos that have helped others? I have had chronic eye pain for a while now and could really benefit from hearing what has helped others. I have not found doctors to be helpful

I have a pretty normal Dell office monitor but not sure if I would benefit from an upgrade. I have relatively normal overhead lighting and try to take breaks or use a screen reader as much as I can, but haven't had much luck reducing pain.

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I know of such a community: https://ledstrain.org/

While it's informative, I would proceed with caution. Many users there indulge in a level of obsession that is not helpful. The basics of reducing eye strain are actually simple:

1. Don't use a display at unnecessarily high brightness. 2. Make sure there's plenty of natural light around you (avoid LEDs if possible). 3. Take frequent breaks and look off in the distance. (If you're in a social setting, assume an air of mystery with your ponderous gaze.) 4. Reduce your level of stress. Stress makes nothing better and everything worse. Enjoy life! Stretch regularly to reduce muscle tension in the body. 5. Probably diet helps, but that's a whole can of worms. Don't obsess over it, but try to reduce inflammatory foods.

There's a good chance its due to dry eye. If so, you need to blink more. Get an eye compress (heat it up in microwave, toss on eyes for 10 minutes). That can help release oils from glands onto your eyes. Artificial tears can help with comfort but wont solve the underlying problem--we don't blink (enough) when we focus on screens that are close to our face.

I don't think that is the case but I could be wrong. My eyes do not feel dry at all and drops or hot washclothes haven't made much difference. Maybe that compress you speak of is better though

Hot wash clothes don't maintain the heat long enough to release the oils. Decent eye compresses are $20. Here's a decent one. Certainly others work too.

https://www.amazon.com/Bruder-Activated-Recommended-Professi...

I got a fancier one from Tear Restore that has little cut outs, so I can see while using it (instead of keeping eyes closed). It may not work quite as good as the bruder, but it lets me get things done while using it.

The standard 60Hz refresh rate of monitors is unlikely to produce any eyestrain. The refresh rate of the backlight could produce eyestrain and headaches.

Unfortunately, the exact frequency of the PWM used for backlight isn't often mentioned in the specs.

In general, anything above 500 Hz is better as some people get headaches even for 250 Hz.

Rtings.com measures PWM frequency[1] as part of their reviews.

1. https://www.rtings.com/monitor/tests/motion/image-flicker

P. S. The linked website is poor on details and not worth reading.

Many monitors allow adjustment of the individual R G and B components. This has been the single biggest help for me. I typically use R 45 G 35 B 15 or at night R 25 G 15 B 0 and that has helped me stay productive for longer without eye strain.

Using a projector and/or TV as a monitor, at a distance, may help. I've been doing this for a while now, and it works for me.

https://ledstrain.org/

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