Hi! I'd like to share my success story of finding and fixing the root cause of my eye strain from digital displays.

My history with LED eye strain began about 15+ years ago when I first noticed it with my new MSI laptop (Windows). At that time, I solved the issue by selling that laptop and switching to another one that didn't cause problems.

The second occurrence was in 2021 with my first iPhone—an iPhone 12. I resolved this by switching to a OnePlus 8T, which didn't cause any issues.

The third time was in 2024 with a Lenovo ThinkPad 14s and new iPhone 16 Pro Max.

I used various measurement devices—flicker meters, luxmeters, microscopes, and others—to identify "bad" and "good" displays. Surprisingly, I discovered I could tolerate many "bad" devices with high PWM but couldn't use many "good" devices with low PWM.

I found that numerous hardware and software factors could affect display performance. Sometimes, a "good" display would become "bad" simply due to a software update.

My technical sensitivity appears to be related to temporal dithering, which depends on both hardware (8bit + FRC) and software (OS and drivers).

Many people on this forum experience strain from various sources: TVs, monitors, phones, light bulbs, car displays, projectors, and cinema screens.

I disagree with approaches like https://ledstrain.org/d/2589-products-to-try-or-avoid-pwm-flicker-and-temporal-dithering-testing. While elegant, these solutions address what I believe is a misidentified problem. Most people don't have issues with LED displays, and those affected are a small minority. This suggests the root cause lies in individual health factors rather than technology.

With constant technological progress and regular device updates, it's impossible to stick with the same phone, monitor, laptop, or software version indefinitely.

Constantly avoiding "bad" devices and searching for "good" ones isn't a sustainable solution.

For my third encounter with eye strain, I decided to stop avoiding problematic devices and instead find the underlying health cause to develop tolerance for all devices.

I noticed that my eye strain from the same device wasn't constant—its severity would vary from "completely unusable" to "barely tolerable."

I conducted extensive research into possible causes of flickering light sensitivity and experimented to find the root health cause of my eye strain.

However, none of my experiments or interventions produced lasting results.

The breakthrough came when I found this study:

IOP reduction in a third of patients with OHT improved flicker sensitivity, however no improvement was observed in glaucoma patients

I tried Latanoprost eye drops for a month, and by day two, I experienced no issues with devices that previously caused problems (with no other lifestyle or medication changes). When I stopped using Latanoprost, the eye strain from my iPhone 16 returned.

Interestingly, while I don't have diagnosed glaucoma and my intraocular pressure is "normal," reducing IOP proved to be the main solution for my flickering sensitivity.

In my case, the main factors that increase IOP and cause flickering sensitivity are:

  • bad posture (text neck) and cervical instability → neck muscles strain →increase in IOP

  • caffeine (coffee) overuse → increase IOP + neck muscles strain + dehydration → double increase in IOP

  • workload stress → neck muscles strain → increase in IOP

Currently, I'm addressing these causes of increased IOP and seeing noticeable, sustainable improvement.

Hope my story helps someone. Good luck.

    Zodios changed the title to ✌️ Found the root cause of my LED eye strain and an effective treatment plan 🥳 .

    I also believe that forward head posture and anxiety/trauma (increased sympathetic tone/reduced vagal tone) in causing my symptoms.

    When I consistently do exercises for my vagus nerve (like singing) my strain disappears.

    Also neck/eye muscle exercises help.

      Using Latanoprost, are you able to use all devices you classified "not safe" ?

      Dithering is not your problem nowadays?

        karut

        Absolutely. Sympathetic activation causes pupil dilation -> more light on the retina and more sensitivity from LED light.

            simplex yes. This is fantastic. But I start tolerate them after 2 days of using Latanoprost

                Zodios
                Great discovery 🙂
                I agree 100% with your thinking. Finding a device that doesn't give us problems but we can't perform a software upgrade is not a real solution but just postponing the problem.
                Did your symptoms include migraine or “only” eye strain?
                What is the name of the eye drops you are using? In Italy I got out “Xalatan” which is supposed to have a concentration of 0.005% latanoprost. Does it have the same concentration as your eye drops? How many drops and how many times a day do you use it? It will be hard to buy it because you need a prescription here..

                In the meantime I'm trying to work on the autonomic nervous system too, with the course “Prima Trust”.

                    Lauda89

                    Primal Trust is great. Their Instagram has a lot of free resources.

                    Also look if you are on Reddit look into r/somaticexperiencing. Also this: https://youtube.com/@painfreeyou and https://www.instagram.com/jonathanmead have been helpful resources for me!

                    I also do EFT (https://youtu.be/K6kq9N9Yp6E), trauma releasing exercises (TRE, check YouTube) and Yoga (for anterior pelvic tilt, forward head posture, general reduction of muscle tension)

                    Re Brain Retraining Programs: a great summary: https://www.dnrs.50webs.com/

                      Zodios

                      This is all fascinating. Where is this diagram from?

                      I accidentally found that when I have my eyes dilated for an exam that I seem to be able to tolerate screens much better. This diagram seems at least somewhat connected to what is happening.

                          Zodios

                          How are you measuring your IOP so frequently? Do you have a device at home?

                              I’ve noticed if my neck muscles are really relaxed I hardly have any of my normal issues with oled screens, I’ve been in 2 major car accidents one where I fractured 2 vertebrae in my neck so I always have neck pain and my muscles are always tense

                              ocean10 no) My mother’s best friend - ophthalmologist )

                                • Zodios

                                  • Post #14
                                  • Edited

                                  Lauda89 I used 0.05 eyes drops the twice a day at the beginning and then onece a day

                                    Zodios

                                    What were/are your symptoms before you figured out this treatment? For me on OLED phones (and also LCD phones with later versions of iOS, what seems like any Windows 11 computer and late versions of Windows 10 etc.) I feel bad almost immediately (weird dizziness/nausea feeling, fullness in ear like it's clogged, body warmness, sometimes pain in shoulder and arm)

                                    Just curious because I know many people have varying symptoms here. Mine seem to be pretty severe in terms of how quickly they come on.

                                        ocean10

                                        1-10 min - severe eyes strain like I got sand in my eyes.

                                        10-30 min - slight dizziness, slight brain fog, blurry vision

                                            Zodios So, in your case the symptoms are 80% eyes 20% brain? Or something like that... In my case it is the opposite so the eye drops may not be working well. But anyway, as soon as I can buy it without a prescription I will let you know! 😉

                                                ocean10 I don't understand why the exact symptoms matter. The are always going to be different between individuals.

                                                Why not just start experimenting with the information presented here to see if it (at least somewhat) helps your specific symptoms. Take matters in your own hands 🙂

                                                  Zodios The breakthrough came when I found this study:

                                                  IOP reduction in a third of patients with OHT improved flicker sensitivity, however no improvement was observed in glaucoma patients

                                                  Can you give a link for the study?

                                                      There are many interesting things here and your case has filled me with hope for the future. I too have been investigating many of the conditions you mentioned and am still on the journey to finding the reason for my sensitivity to OLED screens.

                                                      The IOP issue is interesting. In September, my ophthalmologist measured my eye pressure and it turned out that my pressure was about 21 mmHg, so in the upper limit.

                                                      Unfortunately, in my country latanoprost is also only available by prescription. Maybe the physiotherapist I've signed up with will help.

                                                      dev