Hello everyone!
I'm chiming in with all the eye strain plagued folks.
I'm a digital comic artist from Germany, mid 30.
I've been a rather heavy computer user since my teens, so around 20 years of screen use. In 2018 (I think), my eye problems started. I went freelancing full time and spent way too much time on screens. My eye doctor diagnosed dry eyes, and after months of desperation and not wanting to believe that eye drops will fix the sharp pain, I finally managed it through taking eye drops so frequently that the pain subsided. Nowadays, I take eye drops around 2-4 times/day and it's okay.
Since around 2019 or 2020, the phases of eye strain started. I went through a couple of new glasses, which actually were too sharp, then on the next one, the angle wasn't right. My current ("eye comfort") glasses finally feel fine. I always thought I just didn't take enough breaks. But now after 5 years and having tried out so many things, that can't just be the only thing. I sometimes feel like I'm making things up.
Symptoms are:
- pulling sensation on the eyes which can get really bad
- tired eyes (for days)
- brain fog/not being able to concentrate
- feeling unwell overall
- sometimes nausea when it gets bad
- not being able to look at screens anymore
What I tried and still do:
- less screen time (I estimate it to be around 6 hours/day including phone use)
- taking frequent breaks throughout the day (Pomodoro is my best friend, I do 20 min work/6 min break)
- drinking enough (~2l water+tea/day)
- sleeping enough
- 20-20-20 rule
- low brightness on all screens, making them as comfortable to look at as possible
- f.lux
- use screens with no PWM
- use the Onyx Boox Nova 3 whenever I can (mostly in the evenings for browsing or chatting)
- pay attention to my posture to avoid neck strain
- going to the eye doctor regularely, my eyes are fine
What I tried and am not 100% convinced if work(ed):
- bought eye care monitor from EIZO (FlexScan EV2480), was nice to look at, but the glare was a straining factor
- freshly bought an RLCD monitor from SVD (still testing)
- turned off Cleartype yesterday
Yet, the eye strain is still there and it drives me nuts. It makes it almost impossible to work properly since I can’t focus on creative work due to being unwell most of the time, and because I can only do so little on the computer every day.
I’ve spent quite some time reading through forum posts here the past few days, and want to try out these things:
- Win 7 (I upgraded my PC from Win 7 to Win 10 Pro in September 2020, maybe that’s a culprit? I briefly managed to get my Win 8.1 laptop running today, but it crashed after an hour due to a battery problem.)
- eye patching
It sometimes helps to read through your experiences. It makes me feel less alone and not feel so crazy anymore, haha.