Ask HN: Do your eyes bug you even though your prescription is "correct"?

I'm nearsighted with no astigmatism, so I have a simple -2/-2 prescription (if I remember correctly).

I sit at a screen 8-16 hours a day. I get strong headaches every single day, for which I keep a supply of ibuprofen at work and home. 400mg a day is generally plenty.

I do not wear my glasses while at the screen, as it's close enough that I don't have any issues.

I suspect my headaches are neck muscle related, not eyesight, but I haven't investigated further.

How much water do you drink? How much are you sleeping? Is your room dark when you sleep?

Hey, thanks for replying! I’d love to chat briefly. Can you shoot me a quick email at jbornhorst [at] gmail [dot] com so we can coordinate?

Get your blood pressure checked just to be on the safe side. Those headaches could be caused by other health issues. Taking that much headache medication all the time is not good.

Taking pain meds daily for life doesn't seem like a good plan.

Maybe try e-ink? There are e-ink monitors on the market if that works, if the problem's the light. You can also try software like Redshift[1] for regular monitors.

If it's your neck, at least put some books under your monitor stand, if you're not able to get better monitor mounts. Or lower your chair. You should be looking straight ahead for your monitor, so your neck muscles shouldn't have to do much work.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshift_(software)

If you haven't already, you should look into some stretches for tension headaches. For me at least, they don't make the headache go away completely (because often dehydration is a factor as well), but they sure take the edge off.

If it's posture related, here's more free advise: try sitting on stools rather than on chairs with a back, and sit up straight and keep your arms actively powered while typing (not laying on a surface). Also, when you need to think for a minute get up and walk around.

Are you using a laptop (looking downwards) or are you using a proper screen setup?

I get 7-8 hours of sleep, in a very dark and quiet room. No loud neighbors, no room-mates.

I think my water intake is fine, but I don't have a specific measurement.

I'll send a message once I'm home from work, which could be a couple hours.

E-ink isn't possible for either my work or home solutions. I cannot replace any of the work monitors. I do use f.lux while at home, though that only triggers later at night.

My monitor is at the appropriate height (eyes are roughly even with top of the screen) and distance (about arms-length), so I'm looking straight ahead.

A stool without a back would be very uncomfortable, but I do have ergonomic chairs (Herman Miller Aeron) which should do a decent job from what I understand.

The rest I'll consider though, thanks.

Proper screen setup, most of the time a 27-inch screen at about arms length.

Does BP vary significantly throughout the day? Do I need to be measuring it while at work, or will a simple visit to a doctor be sufficient?

My last appointment was a couple of years ago, and I don't believe they raised any issues about it then.

I'll see about an appointment.

>Taking pain meds daily for life doesn't seem like a good plan.

Definitely not a good plan, especially Ibuprofen. My mother took Ibuprofen for years to manage her arthritis and that absolutely wrecked her kidneys. Not to mention Ibuprofen can also cause internal bleeding. It's a quick short term fix but not a good long term solution.

"I do not wear my glasses while at the screen, as it's close enough that I don't have any issues."

This could be the problem, especially if you are close to 40 years old. You may be starting to develop presbyopia, which is typical. In the early stages you can still read and focus on closeup things fine, so you may not realize it is starting, but in the background your eyes are, in fact, straining a lot and causing headaches.

I'm not in my 40's, but I'll keep that in mind, thanks.

The point of sitting on a stool is that you have to use your core strength to sit up straight, and using that core strength reduces all sorts of pain in back and neck.

I didn't start doing that (sitting on stools) till I had been meditating for a long time, so it wasn't that different than sitting on the floor in half lotus position, which I had extensive practice doing.

I've been doing it for >10 years now; I will confess that when I have a meeting in a meeting room with proper chairs, I do really enjoy the chair back. It's all about using your body in a variety of ways.

> especially ibuprofen [...] wrecked her kidneys

As opposed to what? It's all metabolised by something, choose what you wreck. Take paracetamol routinely instead and you'll wreck your liver instead.

You're probably suffering rebound headaches at least most of the time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medication_overuse_headache

IMO neither is good for chronic pain management. Ibuprofen reduces blood flow to the kidneys which causes (chronically) cell death. Weirdly paracetamol is bad for the liver as you mention… unless you already have a bad liver, in which case it’s somehow the recommended pain medicine? (For responses I’ve unfortunately forgotten).

It’s much harder to address the root issue (speaking as someone who’s taken their fair share of pain meds themselves), but it’s infinitely better in the long term.

This is a very important point. Staring down on a laptop screen strains neck muscles but it feels like you are getting headaches from your eyes.

Make sure your posture is correct when sitting in front of a screen before attempting anything else.

Certainly didn't mean to suggest they are, especially not without professional medical advice. (Not just to check the dose or have a different one prescribed, but for a PPI to protect stomach lining from taking a lot of ibuprofen for example.) The non-prescription doses on the packaging are suitable short-term, for a one-off headache or to manage a fever, but continued use (a bad injury meaning your taking it several days even) should be with advice, that might differ.

Paracetamol is world standard for long chronic treatment. It starts tu hurt your liver only on big dosis. Source: FORTA List https://forta.umm.uni-heidelberg.de/

A good indication that you may be dehydrated is if your eyes are burning after a few hours of work or partway through a long drive.

If you're getting headaches every day and it's related to computer use, it might be worthwhile to talk to a professional about your workstation ergonomics, screen/font size etc. That is not normal. At all. I don't know anyone else complaining about having headaches daily. I put my monitor on an adjustable arm and it made a tremendous difference, just being able to move the monitor up/down half an inch throughout the day. Also as I've gotten older I've gone from 20 to 22 to 27" displays which helps.