by ericbarnes on 9/26/16, 2:05 PM with 156 comments
by giberson on 9/26/16, 3:48 PM
This may not have been CVS, but I felt it was related to looking at screens all day so I wanted to share.
I frequently hear coworkers complaining about headaches and recommend they decrease their screen brightness. They always provide their own reasoning for the headache cause that makes it unavoidable. I shrug because I can't make them try my suggestion. But it would be interesting to have someone else try and get some feedback if the solution works for others (identifying my problem as a work hazard rather than a personnel condition).
by atourgates on 9/26/16, 7:48 PM
A lot of the recent "awareness" of CVS is based off people who want to sell you blue light blocking glasses.
This infographic is one of my favorite examples: http://vspblog.com/blue-light-infographic/
There's lots of numbers and statistics there, but none of it is actually scientific. The closest you get is that "VSP Optometrists report a 50% increase in digital eye strain and the effects of blue light exposure."
But I can promise you as someone on the receiving end of VSP's marketing to eye care professionals, that they're marketing the bejeezus out of their blue light blocking technology to their eye care professionals.
So, if you're an optometrist and you have a financial incentive to sell blue-light blocking coatings, and you're getting tons of marketing about the epidemic of digital eye strain in your inbox and mailbox and the publications you read, of course you're going to notice an increase of its incidents in your patients.
If you're experiencing discomfort from using your computer for hours every day, you should absolutely do things to alleviate that discomfort. But the thing that all this marketing and FUD leaves out, is that there's no evidence that blue light exposure (from digital devices) or CVS or digital eye strain or whatever they'll be calling it in a week causes any long-term damage to your eyes.
From the American Academy of Ophthalmology[1]: "Staring at your computer screen, smartphone or other digital devices for long periods won’t cause permanent eye damage, but your eyes may feel dry and tired."
[1]: http://www.aao.org/eye-health/tips-prevention/computer-usage
by mod on 9/26/16, 3:12 PM
The condition he wants me to avoid is called nearpoint stress, but sounds very similar to me (a layperson). It culminates in your eyes lenses becoming "stuck," unable to fully relax to focus properly on things at a distance. I guess the reason is that your cilliary muscles (that alter the shape of the lens) become overworked to the point of a spasm.
One symptom of that is looking up from your computer and objects being blurry for a few seconds, but then coming into focus.
by dudeget on 9/26/16, 3:29 PM
flux: https://justgetflux.com/
and now that I've been running linux, redshift: http://jonls.dk/redshift/
I find it hard to use a computer without these now
by djb_hackernews on 9/26/16, 3:14 PM
My story goes back over 4 years ago, one day like the flick of a switch I could barely keep my eyes open. Now I live with it but it is extremely uncomfortable and distracting and I no longer hack on anything outside of work. My issue isn't so much dry eyes but strained and fatigued eyes. Imagine the most tired and strained eyes you've ever experienced. Multiply that by 10 and that is how my eyes feel starting from the moment I wake up. Luckily I still have 20/20.
Basically, let this be a warning not to take for granted your eye health.
by ksml on 9/26/16, 3:35 PM
by dazmax on 9/26/16, 3:03 PM
Something like the alarms that wake you up at the right point in your sleep cycle.
It would probably need to have a cut-off eventually, but I'd hate to be interrupted in the middle of tracing some complex logic if there's a perfect stopping point 10 minutes later.
by AJ007 on 9/26/16, 3:33 PM
"Reading in a sitting posture at myopia onset predicted the greatest myopic progression to adulthood and reading face up on one's back the lowest. Reading with eyes on turned more downwards was slightly connected with greater myopic progression."
I had some major vision problems a couple of years ago, to the point I didn't touch a computer for about 4 months. iPad and iPhone screens weren't bothering me so I got to keep working.
My suggestion to people having severe problems is to strip apart every variable and test. A few things I have suspicions about which I have rarely seen addressed:
- switching between low & high DPI screens
- lights/screens which are not on the same frequency
- viewing angle (referring back to the myopia study.) Prior to a standing desk I would always lean back in my chair - going back to when I was like 11 years old.
From my opinion, if you took best practices and worst practices, and then like did all the worst ones you would be fucked pretty quickly. You could take someone in great health and give them chronic pain in weeks or a few month. Doctor's advice shouldn't be ignored, especially when something fatal may be occurring, but in many cases they may have no helpful advice.
Ergonomic / RSI / Carpel tunnel issues apply here as well. I've mentioned before I had severe RSI with chronic, 24/7 pain for years, and exhaustive attempts to fix it eventually cured it. Unfortunately as I get older I've also had to acknowledge that our bodies get less and less capable of fixing themselves. At the least we can try really hard to do things which aren't aggravating the decline.
by ojbyrne on 9/26/16, 3:02 PM
by pmoriarty on 9/26/16, 3:06 PM
Is there any evidence that this treatment actually works?
by collyw on 9/26/16, 4:49 PM
by kazinator on 9/26/16, 7:08 PM
Since that time, I have always used small fonts and haven't had any problems. Plus, when CRT's started to disappear around the turn of the century, that was a fantastic change. Solid-state screens are much easier on the eyes.
by DanielleMolloy on 9/26/16, 4:29 PM
Android and iOS also can do this. On iOS it's again an accessibility option, press the home button three times after it is activated and you will be able to read HN much longer (also, a black+blue HN is nice).
I am using this option so much that I finally switched from Ubuntu to OS X on the desktop after an Ubuntu upgrade at that time eliminated negative screen colours (and hibernation, but this is a different story), and it was impossible to bring it back.
I also like Flux darkroom, but after some time it gives you the feeling of being in a horror movie.
by rubidium on 9/26/16, 3:05 PM
After a particularly intense few weeks of work of computer-based work, I started getting double vision every time I tried to read or type at a computer screen. Initially it was rather disturbing.
Recovery was 3 days away from screen time and time outdoors (focusing eyes on far away things). I've definitely reformed my habits to spend time looking out the window more.
Also, flux is a requirement for any screen I use.
by toyg on 9/26/16, 3:43 PM
I have a 2012 MBP Retina, in retina mode (scaled at half the native resolution).; I can look at it for hours and hours without any problem. I also have a larger 4K screen from Iiyama, also "in retina mode"; after about an hour staring at it, my eyes are so dry that they are forced to cry, and headaches are much more frequent when I stick to that.
Somebody should do for monitors what Hermann Miller did for chairs.
by hawski on 9/26/16, 3:38 PM
by carapace on 9/26/16, 8:32 PM
Here is the "You Hate Your Readers' Eyes" quiz. Is your body typeface...
* Sans-serif?
* Thin?
* Gray, the lighter the better?
Good work! You hate your readers' eyes!
by otto_ortega on 9/26/16, 11:51 PM
What helped me a lot was a pair of Gunnar glasses (cristaline version) plus taking short brakes every 25min (Podoro Technique helps with this). The Gunnar glasses alone took me to cut down my use of eye-drops to 1 or 2 times a day.
So I honestly recommend the glasses, but wait for the style you like to be on sale (I bought mines 30% off) and if you are not sure about the meassures of your head, go with the Sheadog ones, I have a big head, and those fit me perfectly and are very light weight.
by striking on 9/26/16, 2:55 PM
I suppose I should ask my optometrist about this.
by orbitingpluto on 9/26/16, 4:20 PM
by athenot on 9/26/16, 3:54 PM
by methodover on 9/26/16, 5:08 PM
by fenollp on 9/26/16, 9:49 PM
by fhackenberger on 9/26/16, 9:41 PM
That way your eye has to re-focus as you look up and down on the screen.
The glasses also have a tinted glass that's supposed to help.
Mine are from the company starting with Gu... when searching for "computer screen glasses".
by johnydepp on 9/28/16, 6:05 PM
while : do
for run in {1..5}
do
sleep 1
tput bel
echo "Eye Beep"
done
sleep 1200
by toomanybeersies on 9/26/16, 8:49 PM
by vdnkh on 9/26/16, 8:24 PM
Another thing that has helped a lot: get a better monitor.
by whamlastxmas on 9/26/16, 3:31 PM
by vermontdevil on 9/26/16, 4:29 PM
This effect could last the rest of the day/evening for me.
by Houshalter on 9/26/16, 9:31 PM
by gr3yh47 on 9/26/16, 4:00 PM
I'm positive the screens are the issue. My toddler nieces stand a foot away from tvs and every time i see it i beg their parents to not let them subject their developing eyes to that.
by Hydraulix989 on 9/26/16, 7:45 PM
by Globz on 9/26/16, 5:27 PM
by motyar on 9/26/16, 5:07 PM
by husamia on 9/28/16, 4:34 PM
by dimino on 9/26/16, 4:47 PM
8 hours a day at work, and I then come home and game for 3 or 4 more, sometimes as much as 9 or10 additional hours, and have not yet felt anything as described here.
I may do these exercises naturally, as part of my existing habits, because I'm fairly easily distracted.
by Pica_soO on 9/26/16, 4:33 PM
PS: Huge glasses that cover the eyes also protect against moisture loss.
by justinlardinois on 9/26/16, 8:18 PM
It remains an open question which CVS is more harmful to software developers.
by JoeAltmaier on 9/26/16, 3:11 PM
by excalibur on 9/26/16, 3:02 PM
EDIT: Thanks for all the downvotes guys, it's good to know that humor has no place here.