How do you cope with eye strain when working on the computer?

I work on the computer for many hours every day, often leading to severe eye strain. Usually, the eye strain pops up in my right eye. If you've ever had eye strain before, you know how painful it can be.

When I place lights on both sides of my chair, I don't get eye strain so often. Often, once I get eye strain, it doesn't just go away by itself. Though a quick ten minute nap does help take the edge off the pain. One of the only things I've found to take away the pain is Excedrin Migraine (or just regular Excedrin), though it takes up to three hours to kick in.

What do you use to relieve eye strain pain?

Try taking regular breaks from the computer this will help even if it's just a 10 minute break to make a coffee and come back you'll find that this makes a world of difference also as strange as this sounds if you have sun glasses try 20 minutes now and again with the sun glasses on the strain is the constant looking at the screen with no light change which will start to hurt your eyes where sun glasses adjust the light to such a level it gives your eyes a rest.

Might sound strange but give it a try I'm positive it will work and you wont be disappointed with the results.

Thanks to both of you for all those really great ideas for relieving eye strain pain. I'm going to try the Vicks idea, cause I have some of that in the house left over from cold season. Ironically, this was the first year I had bought Vicks, but now it looks like it might serve double duty. As for the sunglasses, I'm going to try that idea out too. It makes lots of good sense. The lights from the computer can be very glaring. The sun glasses will warm up the light and give my eyes a break. Two brilliant suggestions. Thanks everyone.

I am having this same problem because I am in front of my PC for more than 10 hours a day. Eye strains can easily result because of this practice. To at least remedy the situation, I have put a good lightning in the computer room and after around 30 minutes I rested for some minutes.

Polarized sunglasses CAN help as a matter of fact! Well, they help me at least. I too work on the computer a lot everyday, whether it is for personal use or for work. I try to take a 10 minute break every few hours or so, but I normally do not get eye strain. Lucky me!

For every 30 minutes you're on a computer, take a 10 minute break.

See, right now I don't do that and that's probably why I get so much eye strain. The eyes were not made to take such tremendous stress. A computer user can focus so intently on that screen, it's very damaging and can result in nerve pain.

I will take your advice and set my alarm clock or cell phone to ring every thirty minutes or so.

I will just need to remember to shut it off at bedtime.

I already got an eye problem even before the computer. I also had an eye because of constantly in front of the computer. Every time it happens I just drink more water, took a pill which I always had since high school (for head ache because of my eyes) and will take a nap for a while. I avoid washing my face also after using the computer. I know how it feels and the pain is sometimes unbearable.

For awhile, I didn't realize that I was suffering from eye strain and just thought it was a regular migraine so I treated it as such with very little results. One time when I was sitting in a low lit livingroom, even without my computer, I felt a sudden sharp stabbing pain in my right eye and it felt like something had gone wrong in my eye. That was my very first bout with eye strain and it has gotten worse since starting to use the computer.

Usually, I take frequent breaks away from my computer. I get a dreadful migraine each and every time I work for too long. If the pain gets too bad then I usually have to lie down with an ice pack.