Eyes starting to hurt when gaming

[Elenion]

this happens to me ONLY when i play wow. thats why i quit, all other games i am completely fine.

low FPS can stress eyes as well, not necessary talking about you though.

[swdan]

I decided to turn to you gamers on MMO-Champion for tips on this, considering you probably spend alot of time in front of your computer, getting headaches sometimes.

first. dont take painkillers.
gaming is safe for your eyes.

my tip: often look away from your monitor. it will help

[Uwibami]

Well, when you game, do you find yourself often just staring and barely blinking?
That could be a problem, as your eyes basically dry up, causing them to ache.

It could also very easily be as other said, a problem with your eyesight.

I myself, am near sighted, so I have major issues viewing a screen from just a few meters away, which means I tend to lean in towards my screen when I game.
I should get glasses, but I simply don't have the time nor money to invest in a pair right now.

Anyways, as others said, see an optician and get your eyesight tested, it could very easily be a major reason why you start aching.

[Noomz]

I decided to turn to you gamers on MMO-Champion for tips on this, considering you probably spend alot of time in front of your computer, getting headaches sometimes.

sometimes when gaming my eyes can suddently start to hurt even tho I havn't been playing for long, I've noticed that going to the bathroom and putting some cold water on your eyes or putting something cold on them can help, and I know, you're going to tell me to go out or go to bed or something but the problem is that this can happen during raiding or something and I refuse to just leave my guildies behind.

Since you're gamers I'm sure you have some tips and tricks on what to do when you get headaches and such. I've been trying to take painkillers but I realize that's not very good for my kidney.

How long is "haven't been playing for long"?
Go to your nearest "optiker" (hej!) and have them look at your eyes. Tell them about when the pain occurs and whatever else you can think of that could cause it.

Do you sleep badly perhaps? Lots of time spent at the computer, little sleep etc. It all adds up and definetly starts to hurt if you don't take care of yourself.

Maybe you have an old monitor that's hurtful to your eyes? I know that used to affect me some years ago with a CRT monitor I had.
Maybe you're sitting too close to the screen?

Or you could just need glasses.

[Duncanîdaho]

Ya, the first time I put on my glasses, I was like WTF people are supposed to see like this? It really shocks you if you have bad eyesight, and never realized it. But as others have said, if you need glasses, and dont have them, it will cause really bad headaches. So definitely go to an optometrist, they not only check how good your eyesight is but also look for various eye conditions and diseases that may be starting. So it is really important to go to your eye doctor at least once a year.

Just wanted to add that headaches around the eye area/migraines can also be caused by Jaw clenching or Bruxism(teeth grinding). I used to think my headaches had something to do with my eyes because that's where the pain mainly was. But it was because I subconsciously clench my jaw really hard when I'm concentrating, or sleeping. I didn't even realize I was doing this until my dentist brought it up, and then I started noticing that I was doing it everywhere, every time I concentrated. Especially when raiding or playing video games. This wheres out my jaw muscles and bone hinges, causing severe aches and migraine like headaches. I had to buy a specially fitted cushioned mouth guard for when I sleep to stop them.

[Arrowspace]

Vision testing aside, you should try to figure out if your monitor is part of the problem. The higher the refresh rate, the easier it'll be on your eyes.

Also, I can't work on TN-panel screens for very long (and similar display technologies), because they're just really low quality. They have poor viewing angles, they can't get darker shades to look truly dark, and can't display 24-bit truecolour. This means that TN-panels are using dithering - rapidly switching individual pixels back and forth between two colours to make the eye see the intermediate colour - to attempt to achieve a full range of colour. This can cause headaches or general discomfort in some people.

Generally, cheap monitors and 95% of all laptops use the cheaper panel type that implements different forms of dithering. If using a TN-panel is part of your problem, you'll probably want to search for an IPS monitor (or similar technologies - '*'-IPS, etc) that can display all 16.7 million colours without "cheating." They're usually more expensive however. The 24" HP ZR24w I'm using right now still runs at about $400 US.

BUT! It is SO MUCH EASIER on my eyes compared to my laptop's screen, which is an icky glossy TN-panel. Never get glossy screens. Ever. Ew.

[xindykawai]

i have the same issue, i work 8h a day and play wow after... i wear glasses thou, but if you dont have any vision problem, maybe this can help

http://www.allaboutvision.com/cvs/computer_glasses.htm

a co-worker of mine got those, it help her a lot !! ( her eye was getting red when she worked before have theses)

[Deleted]

I do run at pretty low framerates because I havnt' gotten a graphics card yet because of economical problems, my screen is a Philips 244e1sb wich is 24 inch TN if I'm not wrong.

[supreme jd]

Maybe Gunnar Optics might help you out, I'd post a link but I don't have enough posts yet. Check em out.