Advice needed

[bonnie heather]

As a kiltmaker, I sew tiny stitches and do close, detailed work all day, every day. I find that it causes a lot of eye strain.
I'm sure there are lots of people who do the kind of work that causes this situation

What do you do to prevent and/or relieve eye strain?

[usonian]

Adequate lighting is a big one for me. I have an Ott Light that is very good for fine hand-stitching.

[Chas]

No more than 55 minutes in a single period.

5 minutes looking away at something at a different focal length.

A simple kitchen timer, with a loud ring, will do.

[ratspike]

for good work lighting. My eyes were a lot happier and I felt a lot better when I put a good work lamp over my cutting table.

[Father Bill]

Lighting's important. Rest is important. So are an unusually large pair of glasses cut to your prescription after having somebody else measure from the bridge of your nose to the point of your needle after you've been at it for about half an hour.

Have them "catch" you by demanding that you "freeze" while they measure. Have them do it several times over several days in various chairs, then tell your optician about the measurements and the average.

[artificer]

As a Loooooong time miniatures painter and at-one-time translator of ancient Chinese writing (count the number of teeny-tiny brush strokes ) I feel your pain.

Good lighting is key. There are times when I use magnifying goggles as well (the sort that you wear on a strap on your head and flip up out of the way.

Like others have also said, take breaks during the work day. One other thing that I've found to help is do the exact opposite. Go stare out the window for a while.
You're not only resting your eyes you'll be using them in the opposite way. I find it helps me tremendously.

ith:

[creagdhubh]

No more than 55 minutes in a single period.

5 minutes looking away at something at a different focal length.

A simple kitchen timer, with a loud ring, will do.

I do this when I'm oil-painting in the studio. Very effective.

[fluter]

First: good lighting. I love my Ott-Lites, big time.

Second, even if you have not encountered the dreaded presbyopia of middle-age, try out some reading glasses (plus 1-2 range) to help prevent eyestrain.

If you already wear specs, you can perch the reading glasses over them on your nose (this strengthens the plus-diopter slightly) to experiment; either with single-vision or with an existing bifocal. If you find a good value for your preferred working distance, single-vision glasses are quite inexpensive by mail order---cheap enough for a little experimentation. I use a plus 1.5 bifocal for reading, up to a +3 for close work and about plus 1 single-vision for computer glasses.

You could also have bifocals with your normal reading prescription in the top, and the stronger close-work value in the bottom. This way you can read TAoK while you work.

Obsessive? Me? I'm merely accustomed to seeing better than people who don't wear glasses.

[Pleater]

being born short sighted was a definite help - but reading glasses to my prescription plus some magnifying ones do the trick now that my lenses are stiffening.

Wearing two pairs of glasses might look strange, but it is just creating some bifocals, as the magnifying ones are smaller than my readers. Having a range of different strengths seems to help with doing different tasks and on different days too.

Anne the Pleater :ootd: