Computer screen problems
 

The one thing that still gives me the most problems 1.5 years after my injury is computer screens. My job requires sitting in front of one for 9 hours a day. The longer and more intense the focus, the worse my symptoms are. Is there anything you guys have come up with the mitigate the problem? Glasses? Special screens/filters? Therapy?

Screen brightness can help. f-lux.com has an app if your display does not dim from the keyboard or display controls.

I also use the zoom function.

I also do better with multiple displays rather than cascading/stacking windows and switching/toggling between them. If I have to remember what is on a hidden window for work open window, I will struggle. But, looking back and forth between two displays is much easier.

It helps me to keep my screen uncluttered. If I am working online where there are ads, I need to use an Adblocker or a Flashblocker to simplify or reduce the stimulation.

If you need to read long lines of text, narrowing the frame so the line length is 80 characters makes reading easier. I've used a character count tool at Character Count Tool - Get The Character Count of Given Text to help me understand what my sweet line length is.

I've used the highlight feature to reverse the color or make black text on a white background show as white text on a blue background. The highlight feature can be very useful as you try to read some difficult formatting and color combinations. I just drag the cursor across to see if I can read with less strain.

Some have found that tinted glasses help.

Take routine breaks before it becomes a problem.

It's not really the way we like to work, trained to keep pushing but I wonder how productive I really was pre accident with that work ethic.

I did find that pausing before symptoms has allowed me to pause for shorter periods of time as opposed to going until I couldn't take it any more.

I'm not a computer worker but multi tasking and a very fluid environment at my work required me to alter my habits.

Bud

Computer screens are something that I'm having issues with as well. I've tried everything (screen brightness, reading glasses, Flux program, computer glasses, etc) and so far nothing has helped.

I had to quit working full-time last year because of this, and my symptoms have gotten better overall after I stopped forcing myself to look at computer screens all day.

So far the only thing that I found as a possibility is issues with how the eyes work together (for example convergence insufficiency). I've tried vision therapy a couple of times, but haven't had any luck so far.

Went to a new neuro-optometrist that was trained by the Vision Specialist of Michigan (Is it My Eyes that are causing my headaches, nausea, dizziness) and she did a bunch of tests on my eyes and said that my eyes are vertically misaligned and that's why the brain is always struggling. She prescribed me new glasses which I'm going to pick up sometime this week, will let you know how it goes.

In my case and after much much experimentation and doctor opinions, 80% of my problem is vision and perhaps 80% of that is convergence.

It took me a long time to realize this. A set back made me realize who converging has been causing all these symptoms. They happen with a lag in my case so it is hard to tell what is causing what. But what I did not realize earlier was how much better I can feel if I did not converge. For two years I did not have more than 3 good days in a row.

Now that I am off work, I can have as many good days as I want, it is my decision: to read or not to read... as simple as that.

This seems to be the case for me as well. Once I quit staring at computer screens all day, I've felt much better and have been slowly improving over the last year. If I work on a computer for a couple hours, symptoms come back and anxiety flares up the next day. What's frustrating for me is that I've been to about 5 different eye specialists and so far no luck in getting this fixed.

Some say that a higher refresh rate is better (ie high hz)

Tried playing with refresh rates as well, didn't notice any difference. The thing is that I get similar symptoms while reading as well, so I think it is convergence-related.

Supposedly higher than 100hz is best. However, some say refresh doesn't matter with LCDs.

Another option is buying a screen without Pulse Width Modulation (PWM). PWM also creates a flicker

It isn't an easy thing to find as it isn't always on the spec sheet.