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As a teenager, nothing, and I ended up short sighted as a consequence of squinting at flickering CRT displays for hours.. oops. As an adult, a lot! I go each y

As a teenager, nothing, and I ended up short sighted as a consequence of squinting at flickering CRT displays for hours.. oops. As an adult, a lot! I go each year for a test that includes a extended 3D scan of my retinas. I always have glasses that match my prescription. I have "night shift"/reduced-blue mode turned on my computer and phone almost permanently to reduce eye strain and reduce the chemical effects later in the day. I wear sunglasses whenever I feel eye strain outdoors, even if it's winter. I increase font sizes on sites where it now, post 40, feels necessary (such as HN). This all seems to be working well so far.

RealityVoid 5y ago
I am skeptical that staying in front of the PC will cause you to be myopic. I am also skeptical that there is anything that needs doing so as to not break your eyesight besides not staring into the sun or laser beams. I mean, i may be right but it seems wrong to me that just using your eyes would somehow break them.
- heavenlyblue 5y ago
  I really like when people say this about screens and never mention books at all. Can someone with some strong contextual knowledge provide ANY references actually linking myopia/astigmatism to reading? I would argue actually being on the street in quickly changing weather (very dry air, very humid air, extreme cold/heat) probably has a larger effect on what happens to your eyes, but even that is arguably very weak.
  - Aulig 5y ago
    All near-work affects eyes, so books too. You can look up "near induced transient myopia" on google scholar. I'm on a slow connection, so I can't right now, sorry.
    - RealityVoid 5y ago
      Ok, that's a thing, but it's right in the name, it's transient. I mean, we don't _know_ for sure what causes myopia, and it does seem there is something with our lifestyle, I am just not convinced that the obvious answer "staring at close things" is the correct one. In my experience as someone with myopia, staring at close things is a side effect of myopia, in that you need to get closed to see, and, I presume, not the thing that causes it, but a really fun confounding factor. And to @heavenlyblue - don't worry, people have been saying the same things about books as well. I remember reading "Diary of a Short-Sighted Adolescent" and his parents wouldn't let him read because he was short sighted, y'know, for his health. The belief that stairing at close things is causing myopia is common, but, as far as I can tell, not based on any conclusive science. It's just that recently it's more in vogue to be concerned by technology than by books, and, beside, these days, most people stare at screens and phones rather than books.
    - heavenlyblue 5y ago
      I just Googled that, "The literature on nearwork-induced transient myopia (NITM) is reviewed, with NITM being defined as the short-term myopic far point shift immediately following a sustained near visual task." "Immediately following a sustained near visual task". How is that related to having consistent myopia?
- mdp2021 5y ago
  > it seems wrong to me that just using your eyes would somehow break them Using, no; straining, yes.
- the_d3f4ult 5y ago
  It will before your eyes stop growing at age 25 or so.

RealityVoid 5y ago

I am skeptical that staying in front of the PC will cause you to be myopic. I am also skeptical that there is anything that needs doing so as to not break your eyesight besides not staring into the sun or laser beams. I mean, i may be right but it seems wrong to me that just using your eyes would somehow break them.

heavenlyblue 5y ago
I really like when people say this about screens and never mention books at all. Can someone with some strong contextual knowledge provide ANY references actually linking myopia/astigmatism to reading? I would argue actually being on the street in quickly changing weather (very dry air, very humid air, extreme cold/heat) probably has a larger effect on what happens to your eyes, but even that is arguably very weak.
- Aulig 5y ago
  All near-work affects eyes, so books too. You can look up "near induced transient myopia" on google scholar. I'm on a slow connection, so I can't right now, sorry.
  - RealityVoid 5y ago
    Ok, that's a thing, but it's right in the name, it's transient. I mean, we don't _know_ for sure what causes myopia, and it does seem there is something with our lifestyle, I am just not convinced that the obvious answer "staring at close things" is the correct one. In my experience as someone with myopia, staring at close things is a side effect of myopia, in that you need to get closed to see, and, I presume, not the thing that causes it, but a really fun confounding factor. And to @heavenlyblue - don't worry, people have been saying the same things about books as well. I remember reading "Diary of a Short-Sighted Adolescent" and his parents wouldn't let him read because he was short sighted, y'know, for his health. The belief that stairing at close things is causing myopia is common, but, as far as I can tell, not based on any conclusive science. It's just that recently it's more in vogue to be concerned by technology than by books, and, beside, these days, most people stare at screens and phones rather than books.
  - heavenlyblue 5y ago
    I just Googled that, "The literature on nearwork-induced transient myopia (NITM) is reviewed, with NITM being defined as the short-term myopic far point shift immediately following a sustained near visual task." "Immediately following a sustained near visual task". How is that related to having consistent myopia?
mdp2021 5y ago
> it seems wrong to me that just using your eyes would somehow break them Using, no; straining, yes.
the_d3f4ult 5y ago
It will before your eyes stop growing at age 25 or so.