How to prevent eye strain with studying in med school

[658809]

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With all the studying/reading/computer screen work that med students have to do, what sort of practices/ habits do you do to prevent eye strain? Is there anything that should always be avoided?

Thanks!! Best of health to you all 🙂

 

[bashwell]

The 20-20-20 rule: every 20 mins look at something 20 feet away (from your computer or books) for at least 20 seconds.

Practice good posture, ergonomics, whatever it's called.

Also some people might benefit from eye drops.

And you could ask ophthalmologists once you start to meet some (or search the ophtho forums here).

 

[Ven0m]

Since most screens are so blue and intense on my eyes, I personally use f.lux, it warms the colors, makes it feel more like paper

 

[bashwell]

Since most screens are so blue and intense on my eyes, I personally use f.lux, it warms the colors, makes it feel more like paper

Good advice. I use f.lux too. I'm using it now. It's pretty cool!

https://justgetflux.com/

 

[FFH]

Gunnar eyewear. Life changed. You are welcome.

 

[cbrons]

Reading glasses kid

 

[godson]

+1 for f.lux

 

[soccerman93]

Gunnar eyewear. Life changed. You are welcome.

OMG are these for real! I've had 20/20 vision forever but have really been feeling the eye strain lately, do these help you with long laptop/computer sessions?

 

[Psai]

Since most screens are so blue and intense on my eyes, I personally use f.lux, it warms the colors, makes it feel more like paper

optician tried to sell me these lens that block blue light for 200 dollars i was like no thanks don't need it
just turned up my flux

 

[Ven0m]

optician tried to sell me these lens that block blue light for 200 dollars i was like no thanks don't need it
just turned up my flux

Yep, gunnars filter out the blue of your vision... but you can just prevent the blue from coming out by using flux, lol.

 

[FFH]

Flux only works on your personal computer. Gunnar works for everything: phone, pad, TV, hospital computer. And it makes going to bed so much easier by filtering out the blue and ultra violate spectrum from any light source. The cheapest ones are only $50 on best buy. The most comfortable model and stylish model called haus, costs a little more on eBay. The prescription ones are not much more expensive than normal glasses.

 

[jdh71]

With all the studying/reading/computer screen work that med students have to do, what sort of practices/ habits do you do to prevent eye strain? Is there anything that should always be avoided?

Thanks!! Best of health to you all 🙂

Go get your eyes checked by the optometrist. I didn't know I had a stigmatism until I got to medical school and all the reading caused me a headache. I see pretty good otherwise. An rx for glasses got rid of the headache with reading.

 

[maxxor]

Gunnar isn't the only blue-light blocking coating. Most major lens manufacturers have equivalents (Essilor has Crizal, Hoya has Recharge, Nikon Seacoat, VSP Unity With BluTech...). You'd need to go to an optometrist to get prices, although, most optometrists in private practice usually only exclusively use a single lab, so if you want to cross-compare, you might need to go to many. You can always buy frames from a cheap place (coastal...) and then go to the optical for lenses. There's a huge variety in materials and coatings available that the online places can't necessarily match.

I'm a techy guy (and a radiology resident), so I'm literally on a computer for 12 hours a day. F.lux is a great start, but not everything can be so tweaked. iPads/iPhones need to be jailbroken to get equivalent tinting. I can't tweak the view-stations at the hospital. I also spend at least 2-3 hours in conference looking at a projector, etc. I have Hoya Recharge (I think) in my lenses, and I love it. It's made a huge improvement in my circadian rhythm and helped significantly with eye strain. I strongly recommend for those who stare at screens all day (most people in medicine that are tied to EMRs etc...).

 

[pd1112]

+1 for Recharge. I had bad eye strain almost daily all throughout MS1 but haven't had it once over the past year since getting these lenses. Also have tried BluTech because my optometrist was doing an informal trial (i.e. gave me them free) & wanted me to compare them to Recharge. Both are great but the tint on the BluTech is a little too noticeable aesthetically to wear outside my own house.

 

[BillrothI]

Is there any compelling evidence that prolonged exposure to blue light can impair vision?

When I was young, I was told that sitting too close to the television set would "hurt your eyes." Later, I was told that this was nothing more than an old wives' tale. And now, a few accounts have surfaced of retina damage from smart phones and tablets. Has anyone looked into this in any detail? If so, what conclusions did you draw?

Thanks,
Bill

 

[pd1112]

I never looked into it. Daily eye strain was enough anecdotal evidence that that much blue light wasn't great for me, especially since my acuity hadn't changed.

 

[Pacna]

If you plan to use Anki, I recommend setting the background to black, the text color to yellow, the font size to 35, and the font to Times. Helped me a lot with eye strain. The bright white of Anki got to be too much after 4 hours.

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

Hey anyone have any information on battery usage by f.lux? I have googled around trying to find some information but there is not a whole lot of user information available on it. I really want to give it a crack but I don't want a battery hog on my machine.

 

[maxxor]

Hey anyone have any information on battery usage by f.lux? I have googled around trying to find some information but there is not a whole lot of user information available on it. I really want to give it a crack but I don't want a battery hog on my machine.

I've used it for years on various macs. I've noticed no change in battery change.