Ive being designing websites about three years now, Early this year i decided to learn php, java & oracle so ive being spending alot of time with my laptop, sometimes 8 hours in a day. Recently i started having head aches and my doctor friend told me that the reason was because of the rays from my laptop & that if i dont reduce the time i spend with my laptop, i wuld have problems with my sight. Then i said to myself, i know some nairaland guys that has being writing codes for more than ten years now how come they dont have problems with their sight. Guess i could use some advise from you guys, How do you become a programmer without having eye problems?

Ajax1211: Ive being designing websites about three years now, Early this year i decided to learn php, java & oracle so ive being spending alot of time with my laptop, sometimes 8 hours in a day. Recently i started having head aches and my doctor friend told me that the reason was because of the rays from my laptop & that if i dont reduce the time i spend with my laptop, i wuld have problems with my sight. Then i said to myself, i know some nairaland guys that has being writing codes for more than ten years now how come they dont have problems with their sight. Guess i could use some advise from you guys, How do you become a programmer without having eye problems?

Umm, interesting, there is something called "occupational hazard".

A runner who gets a sprain from running wouldn't really say: "Ok, that's it, I can't do this anymore" -- well, he can't really become a runner. Or, a fellow, trying to learn to play the guitar and after a few strumming, he say: "damn, my fingers are swollen and sore, I guess guitar is not for me." And truly, it's not, some things are rights-of-passage.

Anything, requires some "cross" to carry, maybe a little eye-strain here and there, maybe a little (or lots of) boredom, maybe a little insanity, maybe a little (or lots of) Soliloquy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soliloquy). If one is passionate about something, this are in fact motivators.

That said, if the monitor bothers you, and you think programming is for you, some advice:
1. Get a sunglasses
2. Take short breaks in between, give your eyes a break, stare at something else for like 5 mins (sometimes I use pomodoro > http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/, 5 minutes break after 25/30 minutes)
3. Enjoy what you do.

My advice for you will be to practice writing the codes on an A4 exercise book and just copy and paste codes from Google to test on the computer that what you are writing down works, this will help you to spend less time in front of your computer. I wish you the best of luck with what you are learning.

I think I've had a share of this thing myself. I've spent about 15,000 hours behind the computer. Now I have bleary eyes (like everytime) and NDLEA guys stop me everytime; checking me for drugs!
Now to your case. Your headaches may be due to your probably sudden surge in caffeine in-take. If you take coffee regularly, you should consider giving yourself a break, or reducing it, or at least, switching to a decaffeinated coffee. I had those headaches recently too and I stopped coffee for like two weeks. It helped!
The headaches may also be because of your change in lifestyle. If you sleep at night before and suddenly stop sleeping at night but during the day, your body is likely to react.
About your eyes: consider getting a screen protector or glasses with UV filters. It will help your eyes. Also, eye irritations may be due to allergic reactions whose effects will then be amplified by the rays from your screen. Allergies may be triggered by anything: food, cloth, etc.
Whenever you have eye irritations, analyze what you ate in the last 36 hours. Also take note of the dominant color of the cloth you are wearing, the dominant color on your desktop wallpaper, etc. I had serious eye issues about 4 years ago and I got professional advice from specialists (opthamologists). Allergies can be triggered by anything. Fortunately for me, I've pinned down what triggeres my eye irritations and I avoid eating it. So even if I sit behind the system for 48 straight hours, I'll still be fine since there's nothing for the rays to amplify. Than may not be the case for you anyway.

@csharpjava I personally don't think that idea of A4 paper will work. What happens when you are working on a project of about 8 to 10 thousand lines of code? It will be a little impractical at that scale.

I do spend up to 12 hours on my laptop either learning or coding or browsing.

Can anybody advise me on the average no of hours that's expected of a programmer to stay on his laptop.

Thanks.

SayoMarvel: Your headaches may be due to your probably sudden surge in caffeine in-take. If you take coffee regularly, you should consider giving yourself a break, or reducing it, or at least, switching to a decaffeinated coffee. I had those headaches recently too and I stopped coffee for like two weeks. It helped!

hmm.., i doubt caffeine is a cause of headaches, if anything, it relieves them, in fact i would normally take coffee(b'cos it's a more natural chemical & easy on the body) instead of paracetamol anytime i have headaches from stressing my brain. at other occasions, i take beer or both , depending on the effects i desire.

but back to the guy's question, one cause of stress to the eyes is if you read in poorly lit environments & having to rely on the light from your computer to read on the screen. this causes too much glare & a stress on the eyes with it's accompanying symptoms. so it would help to have well lit rooms so that the light from your screen is properly diffused, not too sharp, and it's like reading from a paper that is not the source of light. hope this helps.

i had the experience recently, i tried using sun shades but i dont feel comfortable with the sunglass, it scratches my nose. so i used my laptop power option(by clicking on the battery icon) to change the brightness to zero. now i use my lappy for hours without any strain on my eyes. besides reducing brightness reduces power consumption and saves battery. so thats a win win. cheers

Perhaps get a large LCD monitor rather than your laptop screen?

Also, spend more time reading paper copies of books, rather than on a computer?

When you work all night, and not giving your self a rest could result in having constant headache. And it is also possible that you have developed a sighting problem, I have similar case 3years back I thought it was due to over usage of computer, but my doctor told it was not as a result of the system usage, finally she recommend a glass for me, after I was diagnosed of shortsightedness. I will suggest that you rest your eyes a lot by giving yourself a break during programming, and sometime going for an evening walk sometimes help, listen to a lot muzik and jokes( just to free your memory it helps to reduce stress programming is very stressful).

a) Get Sunglasses --- I used those a couple of years ago but now I don't

b) Most of all, take advantage of the screen brightness tuning utility that comes with your machine. I have my screen comfortably darkened so I can see what I am working on,and my eyes are not suffering.

c) Get yourself a better laptop screen or a screen shield.

You're longsighted. You need glasses to read. That's why working on a computer strains your eyes. That is all. Nothing more.

Too much of everything is bad. Even if u are into anoda profession , take a break when neccessary and don't compare your body system to others

Seun: You're longsighted. You need glasses to read. That's why working on a computer strains your eyes. That is all. Nothing more.

Not always the case. For the first couple of years, working, I experienced pain, almost on a constant basis. Went in on a regular basis for eye check but never was recommended glasses.

@Poster, you could also have dry eyes as well. My suggestions there are suggestions I got from 98% of the Ophthalmologists I saw in the last 3 years on my eye problem( I saw one at least every 6 months back then) and I have since then been able to overcome the issue.

@OP I'd advise you minimize ur exposure to ur laptop. You can try using your phone to write codes (JAVA or symbian).
They're make work faster, easier and more mobile.
All you hav to do is download the application, jtextlite.
Then write all the codes you want, and remember to write them separately. And just send them to ur laptop, then link them using the <link> tag. It works great!

If you've had your eyes checked with an ophthalmologist? If not, do so right away? Whatever you're having is a medical condition.

There's a reason employers generally furnish their developers desks with 22-inch monitors in the US. If you do the same in Nigeria they think it's "effizy".

@Ajax. From you name, I think you always handle ajax codes. Doctors advise that too much aJaX coding is not good for the brain Abadone ajax... And try something else

you have health issues bro. Not linked to laptop

well, too much CRT monitor exposure can cause damage and give you cancer.

Ajax coding na war o, i hate it and do it only when ABSOLUTELY necessary, in fact, it can even reduce your life-span if you are not careful. . . .

The op and i are in the same shoes but i've been adviced to use glasses which i hate but you really need your eyes to know what you are learning so therefore make use of an eyeglass and at the same time dont try going 8-10 hours at once u be machine take breaks, it'd be of help

Body dey different, i usually spend over 12-18 hours on the pc times that i have work to do. But that does not mean i will advise anyone to do so. I have been programming for about 12 years now, but there are times when my eyes feel funny and i know i need a break - i just stay off the PC - and if i have to delay anybody's job, i apologize to them - afteral, health is wealth.

*dhtml:
Body dey different, i usually spend over 12-18 hours on the pc times that i have work to do. But that does not mean i will advise anyone to do so. I have been programming for about 12 years now, but there are times when my eyes feel funny and i know i need a break - i just stay off the PC - and if i have to delay anybody's job, i apologize to them - afteral, health is wealth.

Gbam ...you self don be veteran programmer. Hmm I can see guys with programming white bear bear full this forums ooo. But programming for 12-18 hours daily too small for a 12 years old programmer.. It is suppose to be 24 hours no stoping. You suppose to de smoke am like igbo and cocaine

Where can I get laptop screen protector for eyes in Abuja

Get a simple sunglass. Or a laptop screen protector

If after you leave your laptop for some hours you become normal and the headaches disappear, i welcome you to the programming world. Its normal to have headaches after a long period of sitting in front of a system(most especially when you are working). You would be surprised that you wont have headaches if you spent 10 hours chatting with a friend or browsing leisurely. I recommend taking walks during the evening(That worked for me) to clear your mind. It may become habitual. Also its not a bad idea to reward Mr You, after successfully solving some really difficult task. Its very normal so you are not alone. Ignore those who claim its a health related problem. A lot of programmers do have this(Not all).

Seunthomas, I disagree with you. Here is my view:

See an eye doctor. You may need glasses. It has nothing to do with rays from your computer. If you are long sighted and you have to squint to read your screen, that could cause eye strain leading to headaches, because you are forcing your eyes to do what they cannot do comfortably. Once you get the right glasses, that won't be an issue anymore.

I have never had headaches due to reading screens because I am short sighted, and believe me I am almost always reading a screen. I struggle to see things that are far away like the faces of people greeting me on the road, but I have no issue with reading things close to my eyes like computer and phone screens. If you are long-sighted, which is the opposite of what I have, then you will just need glasses to fix this problem.

There may be other causes but be assured that it is no normal. It's a medical condition.

Try using a laptop screen protector but if it persists, see an Ophthalmologist.

In my own case, I ended up seeing an ophthalmologist and they recommended a special kind of glasses for me - coated with ANTI-REFLECTIVE INTERFACE - and that solved my problem.
It got to a point where i cannot work in front of ANY LAPTOP for 30 minutes at a stretch without my eyes watering and having headaches.
Yet when I did all the normal eye tests, it showed that my sights were normal - neither long nor short sighted, and i even scanned for the common eye diseases like glaucoma, nothing found.
But ever since i started using those lenses (looks like normal 'shakomended' lenses by the way), it solved my problem. Now i can once again troll for 18-24 hrs at a stretch without needing to look away from the screen at all.
I ONLY REQUIRE IT TO WORK ON MY SYSTEM, but can wear it anywhere i like, it does not disturb my reading or anything at all.

Seun:
Seunthomas, I disagree with you. Here is my view:

See an eye doctor. You may need glasses. It has nothing to do with rays from your computer. If you are long sighted and you have to squint to read your screen, that could cause eye strain leading to headaches, because you are forcing your eyes to do what they cannot do comfortably. Once you get the right glasses, that won't be an issue anymore.

I have never had headaches due to reading screens because I am short sighted, and believe me I am almost always reading a screen. I struggle to see things that are far away like the faces of people greeting me on the road, but I have no issue with reading things close to my eyes like computer and phone screens. If you are long-sighted, which is the opposite of what I have, then you will just need glasses to fix this problem.

There may be other causes but be assured that it is no normal. It's a medical condition.

Very correct. It is a medical condition.

seunthomas:
If after you leave your laptop for some hours you become normal and the headaches disappear, i welcome you to the programming world. Its normal to have headaches after a long period of sitting in front of a system(most especially when you are working). You would be surprised that you wont have headaches if you spent 10 hours chatting with a friend or browsing leisurely. I recommend taking walks during the evening(That worked for me) to clear your mind. It may become habitual. Also its not a bad idea to reward Mr You, after successfully solving some really difficult task. Its very normal so you are not alone. Ignore those who claim its a health related problem. A lot of programmers do have this(Not all).

I too disagree with you, because this is not normal at all. And it is likely a medical condition as stated above by several people.

dhtml18:

I too disagree with you, because this is not normal at all. And it is likely a medical condition as stated above by several people.

I dont need to disagree to you. Because you dont experience head aches or sore eyes as a programmer does not mean others dont. Most hardcore programmers i know always complain about the same thing. I have been coding for almost 20 years and well i also experience headaches although its much better now than when i started. You might want to read other programmers opinion around the world
https://www.quora.com/Do-computer-programmers-and-software-engineers-get-headaches-and-sore-eyes-from-being-on-the-computer-all-the-time