Eyestrain Prevention

Awhile back we discussed in this thread how to help reduce eyestrain, which might lead to vision degradation. Since many of us on the forum are in front of the computer screen or do other close work (painting, etc.) a lot, I thought I’d start this thread to share ideas on how to reduce eyestrain. Feel free to add your ideas to this thread!

Here are some things that I’ve found to be helpful:

1) Use a timer set to 30 min. to remind yourself to focus on something far away for a minute when you’re painting, in front of the computer, etc. If you’re in front of the computer, you can use a timer program like this one, which can be downloaded for free (that’s the one that I’m using).

2) Make sure that your computer monitor is at least an arm’s length away and that the brightness/contrast of the monitor are set at comfortable levels. The surrounding light should also be adjusted appropriately so that there is no glare on the computer screen.

3) Use a magnifier of some sort for close work. There are many different types of magnifiers, and quite a few are listed on this website.

For those who are interested, here’s some of the discussion from the previous thread:

Anyhow all went well and I’m okay, just some eye strain and increasingly bad eyesight. Eeek.
I was wondering, when you’re painting or doing work on the computer, do you try to take a break every 20-30 min. to look around and focus your eyes for a minute on something ~20 feet away? If not, doing so might help with the eyestrain (and possibly the vision degradation) by relaxing the accommodation muscles in your eyes.

I became aware of this issue recently because, during the past few months, I’ve been working on the computer for long stretches a lot more than usual, and I found myself getting eyestrain and having trouble focusing my eyes on things which were far away. But after I started doing the exercise I mentioned, the problems went away.
Thanks, I’ll try that! I think my other problem is that even when not using the computer, I’m usually painting. Tiny feather details, 1-2′ from my face, and I tend to focus on that for long, long stretches of time. Looking out the window every so often will help! Thanks! 🙂
You’re welcome! Wow, if you’re viewing things at just 1-2″ away for long periods, I can really see how that would cause eyestrain. And it seems like if you view things at that close a range, it might deform the lens of your eye over time, since the lens is getting compressed so much — and the accommodation muscles must be getting strained too. Of course, that’s just a guess since I’m not expert on eyes.

Have you thought about using any of the magnifiers listed on this website? It looks like they have many different types, ranging from ones which are worn to ones which are on a stand. I think those would allow you to view the things that you’re painting at a more normal range and hopefully help save your eyes. 🙂