Blue light sensitivity

[Tsing Tao]

For almost a year now, I've suffered from headaches that begin mid-morning and grow in intensity throughout the day. Always accompanies ears getting plugged (like an airplane feeling). Some days the headaches are so bad I'm nauseous. Once I leave work, they get progressively better until around 8 or 9 at night, when they are gone altogether. It's miserable.

I've had CT scans, MRIs, been "scoped" by the ENT into my sinuses, nada. Zilch. Doesn't happen at home.

Isn't my office itself because we've moved buildings and it's remained rather constant in both locations. The only consistency I can think of at this point is the monitors I use, which have been swapped out once.

Has anyone ever experienced blue light sensitivity before and can share how it affects you?

 

[lawrence-lugar]

I've suffered from headaches that begin mid-morning

Isn't my office itself because we've moved

I think they sell special desk lights lamps on eBay and Amazon and on Walmart that replicates soothing, natural sunlight.
And pills too. Pills and supplements exists for every potential kind of ailment.

Your story reminds me of the movie, Joe Versus The Volcano, Tom Hanks was having headaches too...from his windowless fluorescent blue light office. His bogus doctor told him he had a Brain Cloud. and a rich businessman told him to jump into a tropical volcano.

 

[Tsing Tao]

I think they sell special desk lights lamps on eBay and Amazon and on Walmart that replicates soothing, natural sunlight.
And pills too. Pills and supplements exists for every potential kind of ailment.

Your story reminds me of the movie, Joe Versus The Volcano, Tom Hanks was having headaches too...from his windowless fluorescent blue light office. His bogus doctor told him he had a Brain Cloud. and a rich businessman told him to jump into a tropical volcano.

LOL! I remember that. Brain Cloud. I wonder if I can fond the Waponi Wus and get some Orange Crush.

 

[Vertex]

I have suffered with migraines (cluster headaches) since i was a child. I cant really say for sure that blue light will trigger one, but when i am feeling one coming any type of blue light is like a screwdriver in my eye. Any bright light is bad with blue being noticeably worse.

I don't know why computer manufacturers insist on blue LED's on everything. All of my stuff has black electrical tape (blends well with black plastic) over the power buttons. And those damn blue headlights that people add to their cars!

I do remember that i had a Samsung monitor that i had to return because the white balance was very blue tinted and would not adjust out. That thing was torture even when i didn't have a migraine. My wife thought i was crazy, she said it was fine.

Try setting your monitors to the "warm" color balance for a day or so. The red tint might help and if it does you know the monitors are the problem.

 

[Tsing Tao]

I have suffered with migraines (cluster headaches) since i was a child. I cant really say for sure that blue light will trigger one, but when i am feeling one coming any type of blue light is like a screwdriver in my eye. Any bright light is bad with blue being noticeably worse.

I don't know why computer manufacturers insist on blue LED's on everything. All of my stuff has black electrical tape (blends well with black plastic) over the power buttons. And those damn blue headlights that people add to their cars!

I do remember that i had a Samsung monitor that i had to return because the white balance was very blue tinted and would not adjust out. That thing was torture even when i didn't have a migraine. My wife thought i was crazy, she said it was fine.

Try setting your monitors to the "warm" color balance for a day or so. The red tint might help and if it does you know the monitors are the problem.

I just found the warm color balance today. Am going to try that!

 

[Sprout]

For almost a year now, I've suffered from headaches that begin mid-morning and grow in intensity throughout the day. Always accompanies ears getting plugged (like an airplane feeling). Some days the headaches are so bad I'm nauseous. Once I leave work, they get progressively better until around 8 or 9 at night, when they are gone altogether. It's miserable.

I've had CT scans, MRIs, been "scoped" by the ENT into my sinuses, nada. Zilch. Doesn't happen at home.

Isn't my office itself because we've moved buildings and it's remained rather constant in both locations. The only consistency I can think of at this point is the monitors I use, which have been swapped out once.

Has anyone ever experienced blue light sensitivity before and can share how it affects you?

I feel your pain. Alternatively, I'm very sensitive to emf pollution. A tri-field meter will demonstrate how pervasive it is. The thing about office environments that I couldn't really deal well with was the florescent lighting common in them. Since then, I've rewired my entire house to reduce the field naturally produced by electrical wiring and eliminated florescent lighting. It's a game-changer for folks sensitive to them.

The comment section might give some alternative ideas.
https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/02/do-fluorescent-lights-trigger-migraines/

 

[Slartibartfast]

Warm balance on monitor as mentioned, I used software called f.lux https://justgetflux.com/ on my laptops as there is no direct colour temperature setting. My phone also has inbuilt night time/day colour settings.

If you computer is policy blocked from installing software they will usually make an exception for anything that affects health and safety.

I used to work with a guy who had these and swore by them:


Some are very yellow, I recall he preferred ones that were mild.

If you have the same laser printer on your desk since the move, it could be a source of ozone. That is a strong irritant.

I also changed all the energy saver light-bulbs in my apartment to the new 2400k(bedroom) and 2700k (kitchen/bathroom) LED types. They look like old incandescent bulbs. Much mellower than the strip lights or energy savers and use only 4w.

 

[harami]

For almost a year now, I've suffered from headaches that begin mid-morning and grow in intensity throughout the day. Always accompanies ears getting plugged (like an airplane feeling). Some days the headaches are so bad I'm nauseous. Once I leave work, they get progressively better until around 8 or 9 at night, when they are gone altogether. It's miserable.

I was dealing with this exact problem a few years ago. It had nothing to do with the monitors, however. It was due to tightness in my upper trapezius muscles. Within an hour of sitting at my computer, I would feel tightness in my neck and upper back which would progress into a full blown tension headache, and was almost always accompanied by stuffiness in my ears and sometimes dizziness. A couple months of doing the following stretches sorted everything out:

 

[Tsing Tao]

I was dealing with this exact problem a few years ago. It had nothing to do with the monitors, however. It was due to tightness in my upper trapezius muscles. Within an hour of sitting at my computer, I would feel tightness in my neck and upper back which would progress into a full blown tension headache, and was almost always accompanied by stuffiness in my ears and sometimes dizziness. A couple months of doing the following stretches sorted everything out:

You are the third person to mention this. The first person, I thought was making this shit up. The second was someone I respected greatly. I started doing those stretches and it does indeed relieve the pain momentarily.

What causes the ear stuffiness??

 

[harami]

What causes the ear stuffiness??

I have absolutely no idea. Maybe the muscle tightness affects the blood flow in/out of the ears somehow?