Why is my vision blurry after using my laptop? (and I see light beams coming off of bright lights)

February 16, 2012 6:13 AM

Why is my vision blurry after using my laptop? (and I see light beams coming off of bright lights)

AFAIKYANMD

Lately, it's been getting worse; I use the computer all day long for work, maybe 10 hours a day 6 days a week, for almost 10 years now.

Now the words on the computer screen are slightly blurry/doubled, and at night time outside, street lights and car lights, have light rays beaming off of them making everything super blurry.

Why does this happen?
What can I do to fix/prevent this?

I had my vision checked twice in the past 3 months (for driver's test, and for a physical) and both times I passed ok.

posted by crawltopslow to health & fitness (16 answers total)

How old are you? The vision checks done by your regular (non-eye) doc and the DMV are not exactly comprehensive.
posted by jon1270 at 6:19 AM on February 16, 2012

A vision check is not an eye exam. It sounds like you should see an ophthalmologist.
posted by meinvt at 6:22 AM on February 16, 2012

Yeah the vision checks were def. rudimentary, I am 29.
posted by crawltopslow at 6:22 AM on February 16, 2012

You mentioned the vision checks, but just to confirm: are you wearing contacts? Have you ever had an eye exam where they dilate your pupils and examine the interior of your eyes?
posted by stopgap at 6:23 AM on February 16, 2012

Yeah, age is a factor. I started having to wear reading glasses in my thirties. I, too, passed all eye exams without glasses. Last year I finally went to get a more serious eye exam and got glasses for driving. Now I no longer see those extra rays shooting out of each light.
posted by mareli at 6:25 AM on February 16, 2012

What you can do is to see a doctor, who will provide an examination of your eye and help to determine the cause of your symptoms. Nobody can provide an accurate exam and diagnosis here, unfortunately.
posted by ellF at 6:30 AM on February 16, 2012

I don't wear contacts or glasses, and no i've never had that dilation exam.

P.S. I'm in middle of no where China, where doctors are generally incompetent - at best.
posted by crawltopslow at 6:30 AM on February 16, 2012

Lower the brightness on your screen. Warm eye compresses after work. Install a program to remind you every hour to take 5 mins off the screen.
posted by MangyCarface at 6:34 AM on February 16, 2012

Thanks mangycarface, those are the kinds of recomendations I'm looking for, maybe easy to try small things that can either potentially fix, or mitigate the problem.
posted by crawltopslow at 6:50 AM on February 16, 2012

Now the words on the computer screen are slightly blurry/doubled, and at night time outside, street lights and car lights, have light rays beaming off of them making everything super blurry.

See an ophthalmologist, but also make sure your windshield itself isn't part of the issue. My mom was worried because she was seeing similar things while driving(and I saw them too in her car) but then she rode in my car and everything was clear. Turned out that her windshield was really dirty.
posted by fromageball at 7:32 AM on February 16, 2012

I use f.lux to manage my computer's glow situation. It might help you!
posted by teststrip at 8:00 AM on February 16, 2012

Not a doctor or your doctor, but I've been having a bit more trouble with distance vision lately, and my opthamologist said it was likely due to my long hours of computer use - the muscles in my eyes have just gotten better at holding that particular focal distance. He prescribed taking breaks to look at far distances (at least across a room, preferably out a window.)
posted by heyforfour at 8:21 AM on February 16, 2012

Do your eyes seem dry? I've had friends to have had similar issues with video games because they get so focused that they don't blink enough and their eyes get a little dried out. Warm compress might help. Sitting there with your eyes closed for a couple minutes per hour could help as well.
posted by ghostiger at 8:43 AM on February 16, 2012

Yeah, I'm getting old, too. Oddly enough, without glasses, I have perfect vision for really close-up things. With them on, it's rough to read the fine print, these days - I have to give my eyes time to adjust from "far" to "near" and then back again. I presume I'll eventually need reading glasses.
posted by Slap*Happy at 9:48 AM on February 16, 2012

I have been getting the same thing. Saw an ophthalmologist. In my cases, my tear film is drying up and is of poor quality. I have to use warm compresses on my eyelids along the edges, to unblock the pores that release oil into the tear film. I also rinse my eyelids with a little heavily diluted baby shampoo to try to keep the pores clear. I was dubious about how well this would work, but it does. For me.
posted by blue_wardrobe at 3:08 PM on February 16, 2012

When you take breaks from looking at the screen, focus on something very close up for a count of 10, then very far away for a count of 10. Alternate 5 times. My eye doc gave me this exercise to help with my eye muscles when I first started getting presbyopia. It helped stave it off for a while.
posted by Addlepated at 10:05 PM on February 16, 2012