Anyone know how to cure headache and nausea from laptop viewing? [closed]

Question

I have recently been using a Dell M1530 laptop w/ LED screen and after maybe 5-10 minutes I get nausea and a severe headache that lasts for hours (5 or 6 hours). If I continue to work the laptop the symptoms get more severe.

Has anyone experienced this while using a laptop? Anyone know of a fix? I've tried adjusting the brightness, resolution and still receive the same symptoms.

Answer 1

A fix? Lol... have you tried upgrading to InnerEarSystem 2.0?

Seriously, go ask a doctor.

Answer 2

I have a laptop (Lenovo Thinkpad T60p) and have never experienced those symptoms or anything else. However, I would recommend consulting your doctor. It could be as simple as you needing glasses (or, if you wear glasses, they make glasses with a coating that makes it easier on the eyes to look at things like computer screens) or it could be something far, far more severe.

Answer 3

Something similar happens to me on CRT screens running at 60 hz. It's not nausea, but I get an instant very strong headache the moment I look at one. I've never had that with LCD's, though.

Answer 4

Since you didn't state this issue was bugging you before, I would have to guess the setup on this laptop is the issue.

1. Ensure the refresh rate is at least 85Hz. Desktop > Right-Click > Properties > Settings > (on some systems the setting is here... if not dig deeper into) > Advanced > Monitor > Change the setting to the highest you can.

2. Many people (myself included) have found that the "ClearType" settings in Windows cause eyestrain and headaches. This is because of how ClearType works by trying to enhance screen smoothness by rendering text at a sub-pixel level. However if your screen isn't at a high resolution and the "smoothing" isn't as successful as it should be you end up with 2 issues. The first is what is referred to as "rainbow text" where all your text looks 'oily' as if outlined in a bunch of colors, the second is a general feeling of "blurry text"... but both cause your eyes/brain to squint and try to re-form the correct, crisp image in your brain... thus you start getting headaches.

In addition to seeing your doctor (as others have suggested) I would try turning ClearType off (or as many call it: "FuzzyType") and see if that improves things.

Answer 5

Seriously, go to an ophthalmologist! I had the same problem, now I use working glasses!

Answer 6

You don't mention if you wear corrective lenses or not, if you've been in an auto accident, or any one of several factors that can affect this.

You are probably suffering from one of the following:

• Hyperopia (Farsightedness); a pair of reading glasses will resolve this.
• Eye Strain from looking at near objects for prolonged periods
• Astigmatism, although I doubt this as you'd see "sheering" of colors, blur "runs", etc.

Other factors that can contribute to this:

• Whiplash in your upper neck, which can trigger intense pain and migraines due to nerves that are associated with the injured area. Straining your neck after this kind of injury can inflame the muscles, which in turn will contract around the nerves leading out from your spine.
• Myopia (Nearsightedness), which usually requires a perscription to resolve. I'd normally rule this out, but if you are already wearing corrective lenses, it could be that it's time to get them replaced due to natural changes in your eyes.

Answer 7

There is an warning when you play video games where they say to see a doctor when you have some symptons. Check Photosensitive seizure warning. Reading about Photosensitive seizure on Wikipedia says that it can be caused by visual stimulus.

Light the room and go see a doctor.

Answer 8

Are you running at native resolution? LCDs as rule only look good at native resolution, which often leaves the default text very small, so you have to bump up the font size. Outside of native resolution, it is blurry. With default font size, you are going be suffering from reading tiny text. Both will make your brain work overtime to filter out the noise from the signal.

Answer 9

One thing that may help is to bring the display of the laptop up as far as possible. Usually, when I'm looking at a laptop, my head is bent downward, and my eyes are looking down; that may have something to do with the dizziness I sometimes feel (possibly blood pressure issues with holding my head in certain positions -- I get a similar feeling if I sleep on my back).

Of course, if you do manage to get the laptop up far enough it's usually really uncomfortable to type on...

Answer 10

It's low tech, but sometimes fresh air solves it.

Answer 11

It's the LED screen, I've been trying to find a setting. I can use my laptop which has a LCD screen for hours with no issues, but when I start using my other laptop with the LED screen within 10-15 minutes I get serious headaches.

I've been looking for a setting, I've tried turning the brightness all the way up, and it didn't work. Probably just going to stop using it. The laptp I have is a Dell 1767 with 17.3 LED panel.

Answer 12

You could try hooking up a monitor the laptop (I assume this laptop was a replacement for a desktop and that you didn't have problems until getting the laptop). Then just use the monitor instead of the laptop monitor. This approach obviously limits your travel with the laptop :/

Answer 13

I've gotten bad headaches before from eye strain, but never this quickly. Does this happen with only this specific monitor? If you use a different monitor / computer does it happen? Does it happen while watching tv? I'd try seeing a dr. I've also found myself getting super bad headaches / nausea at work from too much caffeine, so I'd try cutting back on that and see if it helps.

Answer 14

I have a pair of glasses dedicated to computer viewing and reading. Bifocals will cause you to look up, which is hard on your neck.

I have trouble with bright backgrounds and with slow refresh. If you can get the refresh rate up over 60fps, you might do better. I get headaches with white backgrounds so I go to light-text on dark backgrounds and that keeps me from having headaches.

You may need long-persistence display. The trend fast been to phosphors that are quick for gaming. These flicker to my eyes.

Good luck.

Answer 15

Do you have these problems with desktop LCD monitors? if not, then I'd suggest there is something wrong with your laptop's monitor (something like a high-frequency flicker).

If you do have the same problem with desktop LCDs, I'd suggest you need to work this out with a doctor.

Answer 16

Have you tried debugging the situation? Does this happen with a Desktop as opposed to a laptop? How about with a different model Laptop?

Answer 17

I am not an engineer, so I cannot explain it in full detail ... but it has something to do with the electric field, the frequency. You may be sensitive to a certain frequency, while your body may do better with another frequency. I get a horrible headache within minutes or even seconds when I am close to a notebook with LED screen. With LCD screen, on the other hand, I am doing better. But if I use it for many hours a days it gives me an headache and a nausea. I guess our bodies become more and more sensitive to those fields because in our "modern" environment we ar way to much exposed to it. Everything is electric nowadays and those energy waves interfere with the energy waves of hour body, constantly straining it. I wish I had a solution.