eyesight problems down the line?

[axioma]

ive been thinking, that spending long hours staring at a monitor as im sure many of us do, cant be healthy in the long run. are we setting ourselves up for eyesight trouble a few years down the line? /images/graemlins/confused.gif

i know ive been getting eyeache the last few days...

[Tony Corbett]

Not in any particular order.

Blink

Focus on a distant object regularly

Don't play in the dark

Get a good monitor

Visit an optician every couple of years

[krishanleong]

[ QUOTE ]
Blink

[/ QUOTE ]

It's really weird that you can forget to do this while playing poker. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[otctrader]

This is actually one legitimate reason to use an LCD versus CRT whether you multitable or not; I used to get plagued by headaches after staring at a CRT for more than several hours, much less so with the LCD. Comfort and eyesight position is essential - you can google for articles on this, but make sure your distance/angle to the monitor is correct, and make absolutely certain there is no glare/reflection. Most important, take frequent breaks.

My last career involved staring at 7 CRT's for about eight or nine hours nonstop all day, and I have no question my eyesight has suffered significantly to the point where I had to alter my eyeglass prescription after having stable eyesight for years (I'm in my late 20's).

While you should visit your opthamologist annually for other reasons, there's really no way to correct for the above degradation in eyesight; what it amounts to is an acceleration of the aging process. I think it's something all of us in this generation will have to deal with in old age, that's of course presuming we can get another 30 or 40 years out of this crazy world.

[axioma]

thats some good advice, thanks otctrader.

perhaps its time i shell out for a decent monitor.

[Michael Davis]

Eyesight problems, especially deterioration, are virtually a thing of the past.

-Michael

[slim]

Finally a topic I actually know what I am talking about because I'm an optometrist.
Firstly, you don't want to see your optician every year, you want to see your optometrist or ophthalmologist. An optometrist or ophtalmologists are eye Dr's that can diagnose and treat eye problems/diseases although ophthalmologists are more on the surgical side. The optician is the one who sells you the glasses that are prescribed by the Dr.

Anyways, using your eyes CANNOT cause your eyes to worsen or you prescription to change. Whether you read in the dark, stare at a monitor all day, watch too much TV etc....none of these activities change your Rx...at least it has not proven to do so. The only known factor is genetics, so if your parents (or grandpoarents,uncles etc) wear glasses you will likely wear glasses but know necessarily.
Despite how you claim that your Rx has worsened since using computers, it is likely just a coincidence in your case. If using computers CAUSES Rx changes, then virtually everybody in North America would be wearing glasses and would be needing new glasses every few months because most jobs require constant computer use. I know of many patients who do data entry/computer programming for8-10 hrs a day and don't need glasses. I would be rich if computers caused deterioration in eyesight!

Also, people who were farsighted, could just stare at a computer as a form of treatment. There would be no farsighted people in this world.

Having said all this, computers and other visual activities, in excess, can definitely cause headaches, eye aches, temporary blurred vision, dry eyes etc.

One last thing.....in order of genetic pre-disposition for poor eyesight.....Asians, Caucasians, Blacks.

[otctrader]

Point taken Slim, anecdotal evidence of deterioration does not make a scientific conclusion nor determine a cause and effect relationship.

I failed to mention in my original post that I've had severe myopia (7 or 8 diopters) from an early age and that in itself may lead to eyesight degradation as I age, although I did have a good decade or so without any change in eyesight up until now.