Eye strain?

[Rob_Royale]

For the last ten days or so, my eyes have been watering quite a bit and Benadryl has no effect, so I'm ruling out allergies. I'm wondering if it's eye strain from my PC monitor? Brightness is set to 30% but I use standard white screen MSWord. Has anyone else had this symptom? I was considering getting a blue-light blocker for my monitor. I'm seeing my doctor next week on an unrelated subject and I will bring this up.

@moderators - I put this thread in the AH forum because I suspect writers spend more time in front of the PC than most. Move it if you must.

 

[NotWise]

Individual reactions to eye strain probably vary. My eyes get dry and scratchy, not watery.

 

[Winter_Fare]

For the last ten days or so, my eyes have been watering quite a bit and Benadryl has no effect, so I'm ruling out allergies. I'm wondering if it's eye strain from my PC monitor? Brightness is set to 30% but I use standard white screen MSWord. Has anyone else had this symptom? I was considering getting a blue-light blocker for my monitor. I'm seeing my doctor next week on an unrelated subject and I will bring this up.

@moderators - I put this thread in the AH forum because I suspect writers spend more time in front of the PC than most. Move it if you must.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/dry-eyes/
Paradoxically, if your tear film deteriorates it makes your eyes super watery. Very common as people get older especially working with screens.

Try 20/20/20 rule. Every 20 minutes Take a 20 second break to blink 20 times. Improves tear film x

 

[TxRad]

Go into the settings and change the background color to blue with white letters.

 

[Euphony]

For the last ten days or so, my eyes have been watering quite a bit and Benadryl has no effect, so I'm ruling out allergies. I'm wondering if it's eye strain from my PC monitor? Brightness is set to 30% but I use standard white screen MSWord. Has anyone else had this symptom? I was considering getting a blue-light blocker for my monitor. I'm seeing my doctor next week on an unrelated subject and I will bring this up.

@moderators - I put this thread in the AH forum because I suspect writers spend more time in front of the PC than most. Move it if you must.

Absolutely.

Went to blue light blocking glasses (science is iffy at best but cheap insurance. And I write sexier looking like a 1960's accountant, I'm sure of it.)

Dark mode on everything. Cell phone full eco/eye modes.

F.lux (pc) too.

Even done contrast things on my word processor since I was already in for a penny.

I feel a bit better, very possibly placebo. Allergies have been atrocious the last month or so so jury is still out on if the no blue crew is doing the bulk of the lifting here.

Even if it only makes you more likely to take breaks (abstinence is the only 100% solution after all) the modest effort seems worth it.

 

[lc69hunter]

For the last ten days or so, my eyes have been watering quite a bit and Benadryl has no effect, so I'm ruling out allergies. I'm wondering if it's eye strain from my PC monitor? Brightness is set to 30% but I use standard white screen MSWord. Has anyone else had this symptom? I was considering getting a blue-light blocker for my monitor. I'm seeing my doctor next week on an unrelated subject and I will bring this up.

@moderators - I put this thread in the AH forum because I suspect writers spend more time in front of the PC than most. Move it if you must.

I am considering Blue- Blockers, because I spend 10-12 hours a day on the computer

 

[Euphony]

I know the science is iffy, but the blue light blockers on my glasses seems to have improved migraines from eye strain for me. Since I've gotten them I haven't had that crop up anymore. I do hate the slight yellow tint to everything, but you get used to it.

I can't link causation but, at the very least, I find I'm taking breaks and thinking about eyes more so that's more than enough to justify effort.

My only qualm with the tint is not its existence but the time shifting the intensity. F.lux seems tied in to my clock but VPNs can wonky it out or just random hiccups.

I'll use the highest block setting happily (can adjust programs from there) but subtle shifts from sundown onward really wreck workflow.

 

[Euphony]

F.lux is tied to region/time zone, I think? My husband set it up for me, so I'm not certain, I just know that once he put it on my system I couldn't trust my laptop for color references anymore, lol.

It's supposed to be but it still gets it wrong sometimes.

Also, I think VPN might be playing havoc too.

All I know is when I'm sure I've finally figured it out, it reminds me I haven't figured it out at all. (and manual is better but not infallible)

 

[Smuttyandfun]

I know it sounds weird, but dry eyes can cause watery eyes. You may need eye drops.

 

[HeyAll]

My vision is just fine.

Having said that, I use Google Docs on Firefox with an automatic 120% zoom. Also I use a size 14 font. The default size is super small.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Is there dark mode for Lit?

 

[NotWise]

On the reading side, yes. I don't know if the forum has one.

 

[NoTalentHack]

They kept telling you, “Do it too much and you’ll go blind,” but would you listen? Noooo.

 

[jsmiam]

Another possibility, which borders on the most likely possibility (my opinion): your eyes changed. Your prescription changed. The eye strain isn’t about glare at all (not that glare helps). Schedule an eye exam, see what comes of it.

I believe blue blockers very recently had a new study that further questioned their effectiveness btw, just a sidenote i am mentioning, I will dodge debating that.

 

[MillieDynamite]

It might be Epiphora, so you might want to go to an eye doctor to be sure. It's just a lot of watery eyes and not dangerous, but can be quite annoying. My father has it, and sometimes, he just has tears running down his face for no reason. Yes, eye strain is one cause, but so is an infection in your tear ducts. My dad's is chronic and has been diagnosed as a conglomeration of reasons, including irritants, eye strain, and lifelong allergies (which Bendryl helps with everything but his eyes).

 

[Kumquatqueen]

One odd symptom of Covid (and other things) can be crystallising or sticky tears - do you wake up with gunky or gritty eyes?

A hot compress over the eyes for a minute, a couple times a day, then massaging round the edges of the eyelids, can help a lot. Though there's the odd episode of a tear duct farting out a crystal, followed by a flow of tears.

Eye drops can also help - but reminders to do lots of blinking every half hour may be of more use.

 

[PrincessArianrhod]

Gently rub a drop of castor oil along your eyelash line every night before you go to bed. It doesn't matter if some goes in your eye, in fact it can be beneficial if it does. Do it every day for two weeks and see if you don't notice a difference, particularly when it comes to dry, itchy eyes.