[HN Gopher] Ask HN: Do your eyes bug you even though your prescr...
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Ask HN: Do your eyes bug you even though your prescription is
"correct"?
I'm digging into an idea around eyeglasses, screen-time, and vision
discomfort. If you wear prescription glasses but still get
headaches, eye strain, or blurry vision after long screen days, I'd
love to chat briefly (20-30 min). Pure research, zero selling.
Interested? Drop a comment below or email me directly at jbornhorst
[at] gmail.com. I'll coordinate a convenient time to talk.
Author : jbornhorst
Score : 93 points
Date : 2025-03-07 17:09 UTC (5 hours ago)
| kccqzy wrote:
| Not sure if 20-30 mins of discussion is necessary for my case,
| but my case was simple. When the new prescription glasses
| arrived, the nose pads are not properly adjusted, resulting in
| the glasses sitting too high on my face. This means I'm looking
| through the bottom portion of the lens. This makes things blurry
| and causes headaches. Fortunately once the problem is noticed, it
| takes one minute to fix.
| rahimnathwani wrote:
| I'm amazed at how often I see people with poorly adjusted
| nosepads. In some cases I can see one or both pads not sitting
| flush on the nose, but digging in at an angle.
| BearOso wrote:
| Or people with the temple bridges too short, so the ends
| don't go over the ears.
| rahimnathwani wrote:
| If you're over 40 and have been wearing glasses for years, you
| might now need a pair with a weaker prescription just for
| computer use.
| brandonmenc wrote:
| Or progressives (aka bifocals.)
| jbornhorst wrote:
| +1 - computer glasses especially as presbyopia sets in
| (around age 40) are surprisingly not well known. this has
| been a huge help for me.
| sgt wrote:
| What about computer glasses?
| rahimnathwani wrote:
| I have progressives _and_ computer glasses.
|
| If I accidentally wear the progressives at my desk, I usually
| notice within half an hour that I'm not comfortable.
|
| With the computer glasses, everything is clear (including my
| laptop screen, which is below my monitor).
| eej71 wrote:
| I have a prescription for "office glasses" which have been
| great.
| tarentel wrote:
| What's the reasoning behind being over 40? I recently
| complained to my optometrist that I was having a harder time
| seeing things up close and he prescribed me weaker lenses for
| work/reading. My regular prescription is right around -7 in
| both eyes. I'm not over 40.
| jbornhorst wrote:
| Presbyopia - the lens in our eyes begin to harden at age 40,
| making it harder for our eye muscles to "squeeze" the lens to
| focus. Presents itself as blurriness and eye strain. We
| usually encounter a change in our Rx during this time too,
| sometimes needing a weaker Rx (counterintuitively).
|
| Would love to chat about your experience in any case. I'm at
| jbornhorst [at] gmail.com if interested.
| rahimnathwani wrote:
| Most people get this after 40. Some people get it earlier.
|
| Presbyopia: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-
| conditions/presbyopia/sy... Presbyopia
| usually becomes noticeable in your early to mid-40s and
| continues to worsen until around age 65.
|
| If you're much younger than 40, maybe google "early onset
| presbyopia".
| maayank wrote:
| Not OP, but would like to try it. How much weaker? And should I
| weaken the cylinder strength as well?
| rahimnathwani wrote:
| Don't trust random strangers on the internet!
|
| You should ask a qualified or licensed optometrist or
| optician or whatever it's called wherever you live.
|
| AIUI:
|
| - you don't adjust CYL
|
| - The amount you add is roughly 0.75, plus an extra 0.05 for
| each year above 40yo.
|
| For example, at age 50:
|
| Add = 0.75 + 0.05 x (50 - 40) = 0.75 + 0.5 = 1.25
|
| So let's say that this person's regular glasses are -3.25 in
| each eye. Their computer glasses would be -2.00 in each eye.
|
| Don't trust random strangers on the internet!
| Night_Thastus wrote:
| I'm nearsighted with no astigmatism, so I have a simple -2/-2
| prescription (if I remember correctly).
|
| I sit at a screen 8-16 hours a day. I get strong headaches every
| single day, for which I keep a supply of ibuprofen at work and
| home. 400mg a day is generally plenty.
|
| I do not wear my glasses while at the screen, as it's close
| enough that I don't have any issues.
|
| I suspect my headaches are neck muscle related, not eyesight, but
| I haven't investigated further.
| adityamwagh wrote:
| How much water do you drink? How much are you sleeping? Is your
| room dark when you sleep?
| Night_Thastus wrote:
| I get 7-8 hours of sleep, in a very dark and quiet room. No
| loud neighbors, no room-mates.
|
| I think my water intake is fine, but I don't have a specific
| measurement.
| jbornhorst wrote:
| Hey, thanks for replying! I'd love to chat briefly. Can you
| shoot me a quick email at jbornhorst [at] gmail [dot] com so we
| can coordinate?
| Night_Thastus wrote:
| I'll send a message once I'm home from work, which could be a
| couple hours.
| radar1310 wrote:
| Get your blood pressure checked just to be on the safe side.
| Those headaches could be caused by other health issues. Taking
| that much headache medication all the time is not good.
| Night_Thastus wrote:
| Does BP vary significantly throughout the day? Do I need to
| be measuring it while at work, or will a simple visit to a
| doctor be sufficient?
|
| My last appointment was a couple of years ago, and I don't
| believe they raised any issues about it then.
|
| I'll see about an appointment.
| jolmg wrote:
| Taking pain meds daily for life doesn't seem like a good plan.
|
| Maybe try e-ink? There are e-ink monitors on the market if that
| works, if the problem's the light. You can also try software
| like Redshift[1] for regular monitors.
|
| If it's your neck, at least put some books under your monitor
| stand, if you're not able to get better monitor mounts. Or
| lower your chair. You should be looking straight ahead for your
| monitor, so your neck muscles shouldn't have to do much work.
|
| [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshift_(software)
| lanstin wrote:
| If it's posture related, here's more free advise: try sitting
| on stools rather than on chairs with a back, and sit up
| straight and keep your arms actively powered while typing
| (not laying on a surface). Also, when you need to think for a
| minute get up and walk around.
| Night_Thastus wrote:
| A stool without a back would be very uncomfortable, but I
| do have ergonomic chairs (Herman Miller Aeron) which should
| do a decent job from what I understand.
|
| The rest I'll consider though, thanks.
| Night_Thastus wrote:
| E-ink isn't possible for either my work or home solutions. I
| cannot replace any of the work monitors. I do use f.lux while
| at home, though that only triggers later at night.
|
| My monitor is at the appropriate height (eyes are roughly
| even with top of the screen) and distance (about arms-
| length), so I'm looking straight ahead.
| bmurphy1976 wrote:
| >Taking pain meds daily for life doesn't seem like a good
| plan.
|
| Definitely not a good plan, especially Ibuprofen. My mother
| took Ibuprofen for years to manage her arthritis and that
| absolutely wrecked her kidneys. Not to mention Ibuprofen can
| also cause internal bleeding. It's a quick short term fix but
| not a good long term solution.
| gms7777 wrote:
| If you haven't already, you should look into some stretches for
| tension headaches. For me at least, they don't make the
| headache go away completely (because often dehydration is a
| factor as well), but they sure take the edge off.
| sgt wrote:
| Are you using a laptop (looking downwards) or are you using a
| proper screen setup?
| Night_Thastus wrote:
| Proper screen setup, most of the time a 27-inch screen at
| about arms length.
| dlandis wrote:
| "I do not wear my glasses while at the screen, as it's close
| enough that I don't have any issues."
|
| This could be the problem, especially if you are close to 40
| years old. You may be starting to develop presbyopia, which is
| typical. In the early stages you can still read and focus on
| closeup things fine, so you may not realize it is starting, but
| in the background your eyes are, in fact, straining a lot and
| causing headaches.
| Night_Thastus wrote:
| I'm not in my 40's, but I'll keep that in mind, thanks.
| juped wrote:
| I avoided glasses for years because no matter what, wearing them
| would give me horrible headaches. Then one day I went to a higher
| end optician, spent $1000, and have been comfortably using
| glasses since.
|
| So maybe more selling, less research?
| _JamesA_ wrote:
| What is a higher end optician and how do you find one?
| literalAardvark wrote:
| It's an optician that takes you to the cleaners in such a way
| that you feel good about it afterwards.
| gwbas1c wrote:
| My guess is an ophthalmologist as opposed to an optician.
| r_klancer wrote:
| Can't speak for GP, but in my case it was an academic
| optometry center. Life changing. See my longer toplevel
| reply.
| jbornhorst wrote:
| Sounds like you've solved it, but I'd love to learn from your
| experience. 20 min chat? Can you shoot me a quick email at
| jbornhorst [at] gmail [dot] com so we can coordinate?
| bmurphy1976 wrote:
| Yes, I'm very nearsighted. I've worn progressive lenses for years
| but they continue to drive me crazy. I can see fine with them,
| but my eyes easily get fatigued and I have to take long breaks to
| get them to calm down.
|
| Over the summer I added a pair of progressive occupational lenses
| (not reading glasses). They are focused arms length in front of
| me. This has been a complete game changer. I can now see my
| monitor crisply, clearly, and easily in a way that I haven't seen
| it in a decade.
|
| When I swap back and forth between my regular lenses and my
| occupational lenses, the difference is stark. With my regular
| lenses there's a part of the screen that's about a half dollar
| coin in size that's clear and in focus. The rest of the screen is
| every so slightly blurry. I have to move my head to constantly
| adjust the focal point, or move my eyes and struggle to focus.
|
| When I switch to my occupational lenses, the _entire screen_ is
| clear. I don 't have to move my head. I don't have to fight to
| focus. Where I look, it's crisp.
|
| No wonder I was struggling! I was fighting to focus all day long.
| I suffer from almost no eye fatigue now. If my eyes are tired,
| it's usually because I'm tired and it's been a long day.
|
| The downside is I now have to juggle two pairs of glasses instead
| of one, but that's oh so totally been worth it. I'm not going
| back.
| jbornhorst wrote:
| Hey, thanks for replying! I'd love to chat briefly. Can you
| shoot me a quick email at jbornhorst [at] gmail [dot] com so we
| can coordinate?
| theogravity wrote:
| Same, I have occupational lenses that are also focused to arms
| length, and it has made a huge difference for me as well when
| using it for reading things on my computer screens. It makes
| reading small text easier and feels crisp.
|
| Using it outside of its intended distance will cause eye strain
| since your eyes won't be able to focus properly.
|
| My provider calls them "computer glasses". It does not have
| blue light filtering as I do work with implementing web designs
| and color accuracy does matter to me.
|
| I totally recommend computer glasses for anyone who works all
| day looking at a computer screen.
|
| They would be a separate prescription / lens type (as in not
| progressive I think) compared to daily use glasses. I do have
| to swap to my daily use when not using my computer glasses
| outside of sitting and looking at a monitor.
|
| Using my daily use for computer monitor reading doesn't feel
| "right" compared to my computer glasses. There is a clear
| difference between them.
| bmurphy1976 wrote:
| >Using it outside of its intended distance will cause eye
| strain since your eyes won't be able to focus properly.
|
| Mine are more useful that I anticipated when I'm not using
| them for work. I would advise against anybody driving with
| the wrong pair of glasses, but I can see significantly better
| with my occupational lenses than without. I would not trust
| them at night, but during the day I can see well enough I am
| not concerned about my driving. I don't intend to drive with
| them, but there has been the occasion here or there when I
| had to run somewhere quickly and forgot to swap my glasses.
|
| It also helps that mine are progressives, so the very very
| top part of the lens is my "regular" prescription. I can use
| that to focus on something at a distance if necessary.
|
| >They would be a separate prescription / lens type (as in not
| progressive I think) compared to daily use glasses. I do have
| to swap to my daily use when not using my computer glasses
| outside of sitting and looking at a monitor.
|
| Like I mentioned above, mine are both occupational and
| progressive. I'd like to try non-progressive occupational
| lenses to see if I like them better, but I'm not convinced it
| would be worth the money.
| jbornhorst wrote:
| Would love to speak with you for 20 mins to learn from your
| experience. If interested, ping me at jbornhorst [at] gmail
| [dot] com and I'll coordinate times.
| convolvatron wrote:
| this totally works. I also had a someone add in prism, which
| really did help fatigue. but for reasons I ended up using the
| occupational almost all the time, and ended up really screwing
| with my ability to use perspective to gauge distance. now I'm
| really poor at judging the sizes of things and I used to be
| able to tell you at half a meter if it was a 10-32 or a 5mm
| screw
| walterbell wrote:
| The brain and visual perception system are incredibly
| adaptable, even to incorrect prescriptions. Some unwanted
| adaptions can be reversed by slowly changing any problematic
| parameters, like (un)training wheels. This would have been
| inordinately expensive before the era of self-service online
| glasses.
| dinfinity wrote:
| Unsure if this will work for your case, but I am _very_ happy
| with my implanted contact lenses. They sit behind my iris and
| optically function as normal contact lenses. No hassle, just a
| straight up body upgrade.
|
| See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intraocular_lens
|
| I was very surprised that this is not a more common thing to
| hear about amongst people with bad eyesight. Laser correction
| sucks in comparison, with more risks of complications,
| generally worse vision outcomes, longer recovery, etc. The lens
| implantation process is even undoable and as safe as cataract
| surgery which has been done since the 1970s.
| bmurphy1976 wrote:
| Honestly, I'm absolutely terrified of doing anything that
| might damage my eyesight. I know the common procedures (i.e.
| Lasik) have come a long way in the last two decades and are
| very low risk, but they are not zero risk. I won't even wear
| contact lenses, I long ago fully committed to glasses. That
| type of procedure doesn't fit my risk tolerance.
| dinfinity wrote:
| I understand the hesitation, but that's the thing about
| this: It's even simpler than cataract surgery (where they
| actually _replace_ your own lenses instead of just flopping
| one in front of it), which is very very common, and very
| very safe.
|
| See:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_cataract_surgery
|
| IIRC the chance of complications for Lasik is about 10x
| that of the one for intraocular lens implantation. The
| nature of the complications for the latter is also more
| along the lines of "an eye infection for a month" instead
| of something permanent.
|
| I definitely suggest researching it (and not mentally
| lumping it in with Lasik, because they are quite
| different). Cheesy, but my only regret is not having done
| it years sooner.
| hollerith wrote:
| >cataract surgery, which is very very common, and very
| very safe.
|
| Ever since my elderly friend had cataract surgery (5
| years ago) she finds bright light painful, so she spends
| less time outdoors.
| fawley wrote:
| I perpetually rub/touch my eyes. My big fear around these
| surgeries is weakening a structure such that damage is
| more likely.
| bluGill wrote:
| I would still never bifocals or at least reading glasses.
| Once you reach around 45 everyone day. Lasix probably
| makes you need them sooner (but we are talking at most a
| couple years, not very significant)
|
| I get my glasses in ANSI rated safety glasses so wearing
| glasses all the time doubles as protection from all the
| things that could get in my eyes. This is useful if you
| have hobbies where that is a worry, though for most
| people you are fine without.
| rypskar wrote:
| I did the same more than 10 years ago, still perfect vision.
| It did take around 15 minutes for each eye, with 2 weeks
| between and 10-15 minutes recovery time
| dmpayton wrote:
| In my case, I've had multiple ophthalmologists recommend
| against getting IOLs until I'm much, much older, as the risk
| of side affects (specifically retinal detachment) outweighs
| the benefit I would get from having them.
|
| I still dream of being able to see first thing when I wake
| up.
| walterbell wrote:
| _> now have to juggle two pairs of glasses instead of one_
|
| This can be mitigated with custom magnetic clip lenses, e.g.
| Chemistrie. Tiny magnets are implanted into your current frame.
| Clip lens changes the focal length of your existing glasses by
| a fixed offset. Computer or reading clip can be changed in
| seconds. They also have polarized clips for instant sunglasses
| on your existing frame, which are better than
| Transitions/photochromic because they work while driving and
| are instant on/off.
| bmurphy1976 wrote:
| It's an interesting approach. I used clip on sun glasses for
| years, but you still have the problem of having to juggle the
| clips and while they are smaller and easier to carry they are
| also far more fragile and easier to lose. I'm not sure they
| would provide any benefit over what I have now but it's good
| to know there are options!
| jbornhorst wrote:
| oh these are super interesting - i've never seen magnets in
| the len's before. thanks for sharing.
| walterbell wrote:
| They are mostly sold via opticians who do the changes
| locally, but there's also an online option, 150 for clip +
| lens mod + 2-way shipment, additional clips for 75,
| https://www.buychemistrie.com/product-page/chemistrie-
| comput...
| peterldowns wrote:
| Yes, but the solution is simple -- get up and look at something
| further away than my screen. I rely on my eyes bothering me to
| tell me that I need to get up and move.
| jbornhorst wrote:
| Hey, would love to chat. Can you shoot me a quick email at
| jbornhorst [at] gmail [dot] com so we can coordinate?
| JuettnerDistrib wrote:
| I've had the bad luck that my first prescription was quite wrong:
| incorrect axis for astigmatism, and incorrect spherical (I
| basically have only astigmatism, no spherical). So for years I
| was suffering through the days. Optometrists flat out refuse to
| correct such mistakes (I've been to many!), preferring only minor
| changes. I finally started ordering a bunch of glasses cheaply
| online, and eventually found a prescription that works for me.
| Cannot trust optometrists anymore.
| rom16384 wrote:
| I found an ophthalmologist that gets my prescription right,
| with optometrists it's a roll of the dice.
| jbornhorst wrote:
| I would love to speak with you. This is the exact case I'm
| interested in. I'm at jbornhorst [at] gmail [dot] com if you
| have 20-30 mins to spare.
| irrational wrote:
| Sometimes when I'm wearing glasses, never when I'm wearing
| contacts.
| jbornhorst wrote:
| would love to chat. Mind dropping me a line at jbornhorst [at]
| gmail [dot] com and I'll coordinate a time?
| pinkmuffinere wrote:
| I (nearsighted) wear glasses that are quite old at this point, I
| think ~7 years? My prescription has certainly changed since then,
| and I have had new glasses made a couple times, but the new
| glasses always make my eyes feel uncomfortable, despite improving
| my vision. I try them for a couple days and then give up and
| return to my 7-year-old glasses. It's been a while, so I don't
| remember my true prescription, nor the prescription associated
| with my 7-year-old glasses.
| jbornhorst wrote:
| I think you'd be a great candidate for a 20 min interview. Ping
| me at jbornhorst [AT] gmail [DOT] com if you'd like to chat.
| dakiol wrote:
| Slightly related: does anyone do eye "exercises"? As in, for 5
| minutes, move the eyes all around in a 360 degrees fashion,
| alternating with left to right (and right to left) movements. I
| use the computer many hours per day and that means my eyes are
| usually fixed at a 27 inch monitor for hours. I think the
| exercises are "strengthening" my eyes muscles... not sure if true
| though.
| dumbfounder wrote:
| This might be vestibular or neurological in nature. I had a
| vestibular condition that affected my eyesight and did rehab
| and they gave me eye exercises that helped somewhat. Fast
| forward a few years of struggling and I found that it was
| caused by migraines (not the painful kind, just brain
| disruption). And those migraines are caused by temporal lobe
| epilepsy. But that part isn't important, it's that all sorts of
| migraines caused by all sorts of issues can disrupt eyesight.
| And I think it is more common than people realize because there
| is no pain. It can cause eyesight issues, brain fog, and
| potentially dizziness. You need that brain to see so if it is
| disrupted often your sight will be as well. I am surprised
| people are talking about neurological angles.
| foobarian wrote:
| I'm nearsighted with a slight bit of astigmatism. (-6 or so). I
| got progressive lenses the last time around at the optician. I
| hated the whole process; it was desperate and high-pressure
| sales. I hate the progressive lenses because using them requires
| tilting your head at awkward angles. I hate that the near-sighted
| prescriptions are regulated as much as they are.
|
| I ended up self-serving at eyebuydirect.com. For the price of the
| highway robbery at the local optician I got 6 pairs of reasonable
| quality frames with regular lenses stepping along a range I
| guessed I need for computer work. And I couldn't be happier, even
| though I ignored the astigmatism bit. It's possible there is a
| bit of that engineer DIY itch that got scratched in the process
| as well :-)
| jbornhorst wrote:
| I would LOVE to speak with you. 20-30 mins? Drop me a line at
| jbornhorst [at] gmail [dot] com?
| walterbell wrote:
| Well done. EBD lenses are made by the same company that sells
| to local opticians.
|
| Progressive lenses also influence visual perception after years
| of use, unlike old-school bifocals with a clear shift in focus.
| kccqzy wrote:
| I also recommend eyebuydirect.com. Although it's part of the
| eyeglass monopoly (Essilor Luxottica), they have frames that
| are good looking and affordable, and all the single vision
| lenses are cheap except for the 1.74 high index ones.
| walterbell wrote:
| _> they have frames that are good looking and affordable_
|
| Some of their frames are clones of expensive, popular frames
| from boutique designers. Perhaps that's why they are retired
| after a while.
| avalys wrote:
| Anecdotally related, but, during Covid and remote work I went to
| an optometrist around age 35 after I noticed my distance vision
| was blurry, especially at night after working inside all day.
|
| They told me "you have 20/20 vision, your vision is completely
| fine, you don't need glasses!" But, I responded, my vision is
| definitely blurry. They politely told me to stop wasting their
| time.
|
| Dissatisfied, I went to another optometrist, and paid closer
| attention to the whole process. After some discussion with the
| doctor, we arrived at the conclusion - I've had essentially 20/7
| vision my entire life, and now in certain circumstances my vision
| has degraded to 20/20!
|
| They gave me a prescription and now I am perfectly happy having
| laser-sharp vision again when I want it.
| simoncion wrote:
| How the hell did you convince your optometrist to correct your
| vision to 20/7?
|
| The past two docs I've been two have ignored me when I've said
| "I can make out the letters, but they're blurry and fuzzy. Can
| we go stronger?" with "Well, that's corrected to 20/20
| vision.".
|
| I'm very, very strongly considering finding a used eye-testing-
| headgear thingie like they have in their offices, learning how
| to use it, and doing the testing for myself.
| walterbell wrote:
| Search "trial lens set" and "trial lens frame", the portable
| versions which were used for decades in the past.
| JZL003 wrote:
| Also look at a doctor specializing in small prisms. Sometimes
| your eyes don't perfectly align at their resting state so one eye
| is constantly constantly using muscles to pull it centered. For
| me, that means when I get tired and those small muscles can't
| keep up, I get headaches and it gets worse. Neurovisual places
| can give very tiny prism additions so your eyes don't have to
| move but the light is "shifted" over.
| JZL003 wrote:
| Also there are very cheap prescriptions sites online which
| ship. You can try different prescriptions, with varying power
| (magnification) and see which works for you for computer,
| reading. I found that the computer glasses prescribed were way
| to strong (all they do is subtract .25 from the first number on
| both eyes, often). But if I only subtract .1 it was perfect,
| helpful for computer sessions but if I look up everything isn't
| blurry
| jbornhorst wrote:
| would love to chat to learn more from your experience. i'm at
| jbornhorst [at] gmail [dot] com if you have 20-30 mins to
| spare.
| winrid wrote:
| I had this issue until I got a 2nd prescription by a different
| provider and new lenses. Sometimes lense material etc also
| matters. Bigger PITA than I thought getting glasses was going to
| be.
|
| Nearsighted, left eye worse.
| amluto wrote:
| Lens material absolutely matters. Glasses suffer from chromatic
| aberration, and this causes visible rainbows away from the
| center of the lens. A material with a higher Abbe number will
| perform better.
|
| For common lens materials, polycarbonate has a low Abbe number,
| and Trivex is a widely available alternative with a higher Abbe
| number. You can find tables online for common lens materials.
| r_klancer wrote:
| I will say this: if you're not happy with your current
| prescription, there are ways to get a more intense workup and
| better outcomes by going to an academic optometry center. In my
| case, I went to the New England College of Optometry and got
| prescribed a special type of contact lenses ("scleral" lenses)
| which have been a major quality of life enhancement.
|
| They're expensive, there was a learning curve for getting them on
| correctly, and it took several followup appointments to get the
| correct fit from the manufacturer, but I can wear the lenses
| almost all day and they give me clear, sharp, 20/20 vision.
|
| Also, when I'm wearing them I _need_ reading glasses to read up
| close--my uncorrected vision actually compensates for my slight
| age related nearsightedness. But my vision is so much better I
| don 't mind at all!
|
| The back story is that I had lifelong astigmatism and 2 eyes with
| different powers (one more farsighted than the other one) which
| led to some mild amblyopia (lazy eye) that I've had since
| childhood. My vision wasn't "that bad" so I got by without using
| my glasses for a long time. But when I tried using my several
| year old prescription glasses I found that presbyopia (that age
| related inability to focus on anything up close) made the glasses
| almost useless for reading.
|
| Even though I'm a dev who looks at screens all day, I didn't
| think I minded, but I noticed in recent years that my appetite
| for reading books had disappeared was partly due to noticeable
| eye strain, but also due to generalized eye fatigue that I wasn't
| really acknowledging. I also had to sit up front in meeting rooms
| to follow along with anything projected on the screen, which was
| annoying.
|
| A colleague mentioned the book Fixing My Gaze
| (https://www.google.com/books/edition/Fixing_My_Gaze/Ul16tPVk...)
| and I bought it. It's partly a personal narrative by a
| neuroscientist who was stereoblind and taught herself to develop
| stereo vision in middle age (she was profiled by Oliver Sacks at
| one point). But it's also a history of research optometry, which
| focuses on refractive vision correction and visual processing (as
| distinct from eye diseases) and which I barely even knew was a
| thing. Which led me to NECO and my big quality of life
| improvement!
| amluto wrote:
| Two factors worth looking at:
|
| 1. Base curve. Some people are bothered by lenses with a high
| base curve. Talk to an optician.
|
| 2. Flicker. Lights that flicker can cause headaches and other
| issues. This includes many LEDs, especially ones from more than a
| couple years ago, as well as old CRT monitors. "Driverless" LEDs
| are a major offender. Some modern "low persistence" displays
| could also be problematic. (I have no idea why anyone wants a low
| persistence monitor. I understand why low persistence is useful
| for VR, but monitors aren't VR.) There's a standard called IEEE
| 1789 that the industry mostly ignores.
| fragmede wrote:
| have you talked with an opthalmologist?
|
| what's your eye pressure?
| gezellig wrote:
| I am very nearsighted (-7.5 in both eyes), I've worn daily
| contact lenses almost exclusively for 20 years. I also have non
| glaucoma ocular hypertension which puts me at a higher risk for
| retinal detachment. I have no headaches or eye strain after long
| screen days, but I do get blurry vision and lots of floaters
| after long screen days. If you want to know anything else I'd be
| happy to chat.
| jbornhorst wrote:
| would love to chat - i'm at jbornhorst [at] gmail [dot] com if
| you have 20-30 mins to spare.
| antisthenes wrote:
| Yes, they bug me.
|
| I am nearsighted (-7.5 with astigmatism in left, -6.0 in right).
|
| Recently been experiencing slight spasms and fatigue in the left
| eye. Always been very sensitive to light changes. Dry eye isn't
| frequent (yet), but I assume will get more so with age.
|
| Night-time driving is awful even with full correction, it seems
| like I get afterflashes for a fraction of a second after seeing
| every single oncoming vehicle.
| jbornhorst wrote:
| I would love to speak with you. This is the exact case I'm
| interested in. I'm at jbornhorst [at] gmail [dot] com if you
| have 20-30 mins to spare.
| m3047 wrote:
| My eyes have always bugged me, but I've also had allergies. It's
| also become clear over time that I have pretty bad astigmatism.
| I've always been farsighted.
|
| I first got "dimestore readers" specifically for computer use, to
| reduce eyestrain. When I put them on at the beginning of the day
| I'd notice some weirdness (phantom artifacts and double vision)
| but my brain would cancel it out and all was good. After about a
| decade though, I wasn't noticing those artifacts at the beginning
| of the day, but while driving home I'd see double. That led to
| getting prescription glasses, and learning lot about astigmatism.
|
| Until recently, I always tested better than normal at infinity
| without glasses. At infinity, most of my correction is
| astigmatism. Corrected, I'm still 20/10. But here's the "weird
| trick": I've learned that it's something that my eyes / brain are
| doing combined with the astigmatism. I can still conjure "hot
| spots" with near perfect clarity even without glasses, but it
| strains my eyes (I don't get full FOV clarity without glasses
| anymore).
|
| I can't stand progressive lenses, although I have a pair for
| super close-in work. All my task glasses are "single pane of
| glass", my "infinity" glasses are bifocals. These days my eyes
| are more comfortable wearing the infinity glasses than not. The
| truly noticeable difference with glasses was night driving: no
| more stars! Huge reduction in eyestrain and improved basic
| ability to see when challenged by oncoming headlights; I've
| combined that with some aggressive rose tint in a pair
| specifically for night driving (very 70's mod frames. woot!).
|
| I'll never get Lasik because I've been told repeatedly that if I
| did so they wouldn't be able to correct me to 20/10 any longer.
| jbornhorst wrote:
| Would love to chat. Drop me a line at jbornhorst [at] gmail
| [dot] com and I'll coordinate times.
| account-5 wrote:
| I've coloured lenses that sort this out, I have meares irken
| syndrome.
| tlb wrote:
| I'm in my 50s and about 3 diopters farsighted. I had trouble
| getting a good prescription for screen glasses. My optometrist
| insisted that +1.25 was the right correction for desktop screens,
| but it gave me eye strain. I like my screen a little closer, or
| else my corneas are extra-stiff. Anyway, I tried a few versions
| and found that +1.75 was better for my desk setup.
|
| Tip: Zenni.com lets you order pairs with custom corrections in
| 0.25 diopter increments for under $100 each, so you can try a few
| and find what feels best for several hours of screen time.
| devilbunny wrote:
| Up to +3 can easily be tried on and bought at a drugstore.
|
| I'm severely myopic (-11), though that is corrected completely
| by contacts. Presbyopia, alas, hits us all.
| jbornhorst wrote:
| I'd love to speak with you, especially given that you've
| already tried multiple test Rx's. Email me at jbornhorst [at]
| gmail.com if interested?
| ThatPlayer wrote:
| You can also just get an optical trial lens set like they have
| at the optometrists for less than 200$.
| musha68k wrote:
| Could also be something as simple as lacking proper hydration.
| jasode wrote:
| The solution for me to eliminate headaches when working at
| computer screens was getting an extra set of _intermediate
| distance_ glasses specifically for computer work. The "computer
| screen distance" of 3 ft is in between book-reading distance of 1
| feet and driving distance 20'+ feet. I also avoid progressive
| lenses or high-index lenses for computer work. I commented about
| how arrived at this solution previously:
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15375221
|
| Reading glasses work fine when the screen is very close to your
| face such as a laptop screen. However if it's a separate monitor
| that's ~30 inches away, reading glasses are slightly blurry which
| can lead to eyestrain and headaches.
|
| https://www.warbyparker.com/learn/wp-content/uploads/2023/04...
|
| Look into it if you suspect it's a contributor to headaches:
| https://www.google.com/search?q=computer+glasses+%22intermed...
| kps wrote:
| > I also avoid [...] high-index lenses for computer work.
|
| Yes! You're the first to mention this.
|
| It's not refractive index itself that's the problem, it's
| dispersion (roughly, the degree to which refractive index
| _varies_ across the visual spectrum, described by 'Abbe
| number'). We 've all seen pictures of a prism splitting a beam
| of white light into a rainbow -- for visual purposes, the less
| split the better.
|
| Higher-index materials _tend_ to have poorer dispersion, _but_
| especially in the mid-range 1.6ish, there are wide variations
| in quality at the same index. Glass tends to be best, if your
| prescription is light enough that you can handle the weight.
| Polycarbonate and acrylic are awful. MR-8 is in the middle, and
| what I 've settled on for recent computer glasses.
| darrylb42 wrote:
| This worked for me as well. I just asked the eye doctor for
| something that would work just past my out stretched finger
| tips which is where my monitor lives.
|
| What kills me is going into the office where I am switching
| between glasses. Different rooms with different Zoom screens.
| At home is much nicer where I just have one big monitor to
| watch.
|
| I take my glasses off to read my phone most of the time.
| Technically my primary glasses are progressives but it is nicer
| to take them off.
| Vivtek wrote:
| Same - the funny thing is that right now my 3-foot prescription
| is _zero_ (plus a bunch of astigmatic correction). Apparently
| my mortal frame has accepted its purpose.
| mauvehaus wrote:
| I'm not sure I'm entirely on board with the idea that we've got
| optometry down to the point where anyone can claim to have
| arrived at the correct prescription without the wearer having
| tried a bunch and finding what works in reality. Having worn
| glasses for over 75% of my 40-ish year life, I've come to the
| conclusion that optometry is as much art as it is science. I
| think every time I've gone to a new optometrist, I've been told
| something along the lines of "wow, your old prescription is way
| off" and ended up with a half diopter or more change.
|
| I don't sit at a screen much these days, but for a while when I
| did, I had a computer prescription pair that I swapped on every
| day when I sat down at my desk, and swapped off when I went to
| leave. The distance vision with it was good enough to walk around
| the office or down the road to lunch, but not good enough to
| drive to and from the office.
|
| After moving and getting a new optometrist, I got a different
| main prescription, and was told to try wearing them at the
| computer instead of swapping. Lo and behold, they worked without
| causing headaches, which is why I ended up with a computer pair
| previously.
|
| For all of the time I've been in glasses, I've read books without
| them.
|
| I'm probably not interesting to talk to, because I'm no longer in
| front of a computer when I can avoid it and I'm in my 40's so I'm
| staring down (pun intended) some vision changes in the near
| future anyway.
|
| Minus 2 or 3 in both eyes with a cylindrical correction as well.
| jfengel wrote:
| I recently made an optometrist appointment, and was surprised
| to discover that I could do virtual appointments. And they were
| a lot easier to get.
|
| I'm skeptical that that can work. I suppose you can administer
| a basic eye test and get a close-enough prescription, but this
| is really important and I want to get it exactly right.
|
| I kinda wish I could give it a try, just to see what they can
| manage to do without all of the tools that an optometrist would
| apply. But I've got some concerns (which is why I made the
| appointment) and I'd rather have somebody look closely.
| bluGill wrote:
| Getting your correct prescription is easy. They have had
| machines that do that for 30 years. The optometrist might
| tweak that a little, but the machine is good enough.
|
| What you also need though is someone to look into your eye
| and machines still don't do everything an optometrist does
| there. (though there are other machines that do things your
| optometrist cannot)
| GianFabien wrote:
| There is no way that some computer or smartphone app can
| replace optometrist equipment. I have different prescriptions
| for reading glasses and occupational glasses, the distance
| difference is about 20" and it does call for different lens.
|
| Furthermore an assessment by an optometrist should also check
| for glaucoma and macular issues.
| o_nate wrote:
| I had a problem with my previous pair of glasses. I think they
| were defective. I won't say where I got them, but it's a popular
| chain. My new pair is from a different optometrist. On paper, the
| exact same prescription, but my vision feels clearer. The new
| optometrist looked at my old pair and said it looked like the
| lens were somehow bent. So it can happen.
| otikik wrote:
| Lassik surgery got rid of all those issues for me. Completely.
|
| 20 minutes of (intense) discomfort. 30 minutes later I was seeing
| the world in high definition (with sand-in-my eyes, yes. But high
| definition). I took eyedrops 3 times per day for months. Totally
| worth it. 20 years later I remain glasses-free.
|
| Granted, I was a mild case: Some myopia (3 and 4 if my memory
| serves) and .5 astigmatism on each eye. And not everyone is
| eligible; some people's corneas are too thin to be "sculpted".
|
| Only drawback is that when driving at night the lights from
| incoming cars and traffic lights have "extra halos" around them.
| Very minor inconvenience for me and definetly worth it.
| fuomag9 wrote:
| Yes, sometimes I get a blurry vision in one eye the day after and
| hurts, cannot focus and cries a lot
|
| It has always never lasted more than one day but it fucks up my
| day
| jtwaleson wrote:
| I was CTO for an online eye exam for 5 years and have a couple of
| patents in this area. Happy to chat! Not an ophthalmologist but I
| know some things and some people. Email is in my profile.
| fudged71 wrote:
| Yes. I think I need to get checked for BVD
| genewitch wrote:
| The longer i stay up the blurrier my vision gets, and no pair of
| glasses completely corrects my vision. i was 25/20 or better in
| each eye until a couple of years ago, i scratched my left lens
| somehow and i got wicked poked in the eye by my kid in the right
| eye, into the socket. I can drive without glasses, but i can't
| read the sideroad signs on the 8' poles very well.
|
| I originally got my prescription with an Eye-Q device, and had a
| professional "correct" it.
|
| I cannot read pill bottles and the like without a magnifying
| glass, and haven't been able to for a little over 2 years, right
| before the poking and scratching - which is why i originally
| thought i needed glasses.
|
| my biggest issue with the way prescriptions are decided is the
| "this one, or this one" and they both look equally crappy, and
| they say "which looks less crappy" and i just pick randomly,
| because they're both awful. and then it continues, where it's
| just blurry from there on out. I don't understand the mechanism
| to give me glasses that will correct my vision when the device
| they use to test makes everything look blurry! At least i
| understand how the Eye-Q device works...
| dmoy wrote:
| > my biggest issue with the way prescriptions are decided is
| the "this one, or this one" and they both look equally crappy,
| and they say "which looks less crappy" and i just pick
| randomly, because they're both awful. and then it continues,
| where it's just blurry from there on out.
|
| I had an eye opening (ha) experience once I got pretty deep
| into 200/300/600 yard high power rifle. I was trying to debug
| an issue with my 600 yard shots clustering in three places -
| one cluster right in the middle, another cluster directly left,
| and a third cluster somewhere else
|
| You set up these camera thingies (https://scattusa.com/) and it
| shows you an exact trace of what's going on with your aiming,
| while not using any ammo (recoil hides a lot so you do most
| practice without ammo).
|
| The left cluster ended up being super obvious: trigger control
| and problems relaxing, making me physically jump shots over
| there - you could see lines from the Scatt go right after shot
| breaks.
|
| The _other_ cluster though was strange as hell. It was just not
| in the right spot. But it was a singular spot, I had two
| remaining clusters. There was no movement between middle and
| other cluster like there was with the left. It just looked like
| some percentage of the time I aimed at the wrong spot (not
| _that_ far off, but enough to drop points).
|
| Then one day when lying on the ground for an hour with the
| Scatt, I started seeing double. I'd blink and it would go away,
| but by relaxing a lot I could make it go back. The double
| vision was right where the cluster was.
|
| Then I looked up more info on astigmatism (had >2 diopter
| astigmatism?), and it turns out it's literally just light
| refracting into 2+ places instead of 1. And of course the real
| bullseye people know about this (since in high power honestly
| we're kinda pretending at it), and they have specialized sights
| for correcting the axis and magnitude of astigmatism:
|
| https://gehmann.com/en/579-Cylindrical-lens-system-0-2-Spher...
|
| And sure enough, that's like the same thing the optometrist is
| doing. Except in the context of bullseye you can _physically
| see the 2 bullseyes floating around an axis and then coming
| together_.
|
| I get why they do it the way they do it, because your brain
| corrects the astigmatism and doesn't let you see double
| normally, but if you can train your eye/brain to kinda
| dissociate and see double, you can get a pretty exact
| correction for astigmatism.
|
| Then I got LASIK and my 600 yard scores went from high 170s/
| low 180s to like 195+. Lol.
| genewitch wrote:
| the damage to both my eyes was such that my left eye i had a
| giant ryuken swish around any point source of light (leds on
| devices, car headlamps, etc). The right eye was like 3 dim
| blurry copies around a point light source.
|
| Eventually, i was able to count 8 distinct "copies" in my
| left eye. It made trying to determine what was in front of me
| at night nearly impossible, and i stopped driving until after
| the medication they gave me worked.
|
| The Eye-Q device has a red and a green "bar" and those rotate
| with each "test", you push buttons on the device until you
| see a yellow bar appear distinct from the red and green bars,
| then you hit "ok", it rotates, spreads the bars apart, and
| you start again.
|
| What's interesting is i never failed to get that yellow bar
| with the eye-q - i'd have expected that to be synonymous with
| getting a clear image from the optometrist tool - which
| copilot tells me is called a phoropter. To be silly, i will
| pronounce that "fuh-rope-ter" and see if anyone notices.
|
| edit; i just checked, right eye i can see 4 lights on my NAS
| blinking, left eye i see at least 8 without glasses, only 4
| with. These aren't very bright, so i'll have to remember to
| test outside at night with a planet or a distant street
| light. a single copy of a light source isn't as bad as 4 or 8
| or a giant swish!
|
| 2: I know the doubling you're talking about when looking
| through sights. There's something about the way parallax
| works that i don't think it's "tricked" me in the past. I
| wonder now if i could group, at all?!
| 7e wrote:
| Yes, one London doctor's unethical self-dealing in ReLEX SMILE
| left higher order aberrations (HOAs) in my eyes.
| HumblyTossed wrote:
| A lot of things can affect your vision. Definitely your sleep
| patterns, your diet, if you get proper exercise. Your eyes are
| truly a window into your soul (and your body).
| rsoto2 wrote:
| If the first thing I do in the morning is play on my phone for 20
| minutes, my eyes are fucked literally the entire day. First thing
| I do is look out the window for a while or go outside. Even
| looking across the room is better.
| pkaye wrote:
| My elderly father-in-law had this issue even with new glasses
| until I switched him to my own optometrist who identified some
| eye muscle issue (need to find out exactly what.) They had him
| consult with an ophthalmologist which said it was not serious.
| Then the optometrist made additional correction to his
| prescription and the new glasses were perfect.
| vladvasiliu wrote:
| I have very slight astigmatism. I don't wear glasses when I ride
| my motorbike because they're a pain with the helmet. I don't have
| issues, but when I drive a car, I usually wear them. The
| difference is that I can see traffic signs much further away,
| especially at night. I do wear them when working at the computer,
| since I find they help with eye strain, but I do like using high-
| definition displays and prefer my text an widgets on the smaller
| side.
|
| I only ever get blurry vision after very long days in front of
| the computer without doing anything else (think 12-14 hours). I
| doubt this is glasses related, since I remember having this issue
| while studying late as a child, and at the time I had perfect
| vision (which lasted until my late twenties when my
| ophthalmologist suggested glasses would be a good idea).
| kps wrote:
| Some people, including me, have what's commonly called
| 'astigmatic halation' -- although it's often not due to simple
| astigmatism, but rather 'higher order abberrations'++ which
| aren't correctable by glasses.
|
| For this case, dark text on a light background is _much_ better
| than light on dark. Dark on light, the light halation blends more
| or less evenly over the dark letter stems, resulting is slightly
| lower overall contrast but sharp lines. Light on dark, it 's Las
| Vegas in the rain.
|
| ++ https://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/aberrations/
| thastings wrote:
| Since it hasn't been mentioned yet, I must add this: when we work
| and focus, especially when using digital screens, we tend to
| blink a lot less frequently. If tear composition is not good or
| there are other exacerbating factors (e.g. an AC with high flow),
| the break-up of the tear film can easily lead to eyestrain and
| even blurry vision. In such situations, preservative-free
| artificial tear drops 3-5x a day can lead to pretty good results.
| In some cases, one needs to try a few, each for a week or two,
| before finding the correct one. Pro tip: any eye drop can cause
| discomfort for a few seconds, especially if the dry eye symptoms
| have persisted for a long time.
|
| Further reading: https://eyewiki.org/Dry_Eye_Syndrome
| dmpayton wrote:
| I was born with congenital bilateral cataracts and had the lenses
| in both eyes removed as an infant (a condition called Aphakia). I
| have been set up with monovision since I was very young -- that
| basically means I'm intentionally far-sighted in one eye and
| near-sighted in the other so that I use one eye for reading and
| the other eye for distance.
|
| I wear hard contact lenses most of the time, but I do have
| glasses. My glasses prescription is around +21/+23 (I would fit
| right in hanging out with Milhouse Van Houten or Professor Hubert
| J. Farnsworth), but I only wear them in emergencies because I get
| headaches and dizziness after 10/15 minutes of wearing them. I
| mostly keep 'em for the novelty of showing people just how thick
| my glasses are. 8)
|
| My eyes do get tired after long screen days, resulting in blurry
| vision and watery eyes. I also get headaches on a somewhat
| frequent basis.
|
| If that's useful at all, I'd be happy to chat more.
| BugsJustFindMe wrote:
| My ophthalmologist said that the two things to do to prevent
| glasses headaches are to back off from the "correct" prescription
| slightly and to use computer glasses designed for focusing 2-3
| feet away when at the computer rather than the distant target
| typical for corrective lenses.
|
| Your optometry office can also test your glasses to make sure
| that they're actually the right prescription. Lensemakers
| sometimes (often?) do the fabrication slightly wrong.
| alfor wrote:
| Add incandescent light to your setup. The lack of near infrared
| is destroying our health and it's most evident with eyes.
|
| Go outside, have incandescent lights.
| harvey9 wrote:
| If your eyes are straining then you may also have posture issues
| that can contribute to headaches. I asked a colleague to take a
| few candid pictures of me at my desk as recommended by the
| physiotherapist.
| rkhassen9 wrote:
| I did...then I went to another eye doctor who found that my
| prescription was off because they were plastic. She recommended
| glass. Then it was much better
| rajeshp1986 wrote:
| I am having so many issues with my vision. I don't have a very
| high prescription(+1.5 on left and +1.25 on my right) but I
| consulted 3 eye doctors and optometrists last year. I still don't
| think my prescription is correct as I get headaches and my eyes
| get tired after few hours. I don't know if there is any better
| solution around.
| molsongolden wrote:
| Have you adjusted the lighting around your monitor/office? This
| seems to have a big impact on my eye strain.
| GianFabien wrote:
| You need to specify your _working distance_. I use reading
| glasses with my laptop and occupational glasses with desktop
| LCDs. If I accidentally pick up the wrong glasses I notice the
| less-clear vision.
|
| High display brightness tends to hurt more with glasses than
| without.
| MarcelOlsz wrote:
| Yeah please hit me up. Available whenever. Been dealing with eye
| strain and headache issues for absolute ages now.
| klaff wrote:
| One solution I haven't seen mentioned is trifocals. Progressive
| lenses used to be sold against bifocals and trifocals by saying
| "no lines" but there are some advantages to the old school
| designs. In particular, progressive designs tend to end up with
| an hourglass-shaped field of view[^1] in which the horizontal
| field of view at mid-distance can be so narrow you can't see your
| whole monitor screen without pivoting your head. The mid-view
| area on trifocals is significantly wider than on progressives and
| I found it much more useful for medium distance work of computer
| monitor or car instrument panel. In addition, the area of
| distance vision is much wider on the traditional trifocal, which
| means you don't have to move your head as much or not at all to
| see out car side mirrors.
|
| [1] It's been maybe a decade since I researched this - at the
| time I concluded that the hourglass FOV shape was a result of
| progressive lens designers not having enough surfaces to play
| with and was unavoidable if they wanted decent near and far
| areas, which tends to work well when your presbyopia isn't too
| bad yet. Maybe since then someone has introduced a different
| compromise in that space (maybe narrower close window trading for
| wider middle distance region?) but I'm not aware of it.
| jayknight wrote:
| I've recently started wearing progressives, previously I was
| constantly putting on and taking off reading glasses (I'm far
| sighted). My usable field of view is more funnel shaped than
| hourglass shaped. At the bottom I can barely get both eyes to
| focus on something up close at the same time, it's only really
| wide at the top (wear I don't need much correction, just for
| slight astigmatism). It's better all around than no glasses or
| keeping my readers on all the time, but it's not as nice as I
| had hoped.
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