Dry eyes for streamers

Streamers get dry eyes from long, unbroken focus: hours live, a bright ring light aimed at the face, and eyes darting between the game and chat on a second monitor. Blinking slows when you concentrate. Move lights off-axis, put chat where your eyes travel less, schedule short off-camera breaks, keep PC and room fans off your face, and use a lubricating drop as labeled.

Why streaming is hard on your eyes

Streaming stacks several things that dry the eyes on top of one another. You’re focused on a screen, which reduces how often you blink. You’re performing, so you may hold your eyes wide open for the camera. Your room is often warm from a gaming PC and dry from heating or air conditioning, with fans moving that air around. And sessions run long, sometimes many hours without a real break, because leaving the stage feels like losing viewers.

Blinking is what spreads fresh tears over the eye. Fewer and shallower blinks leave the tear film exposed longer, and it thins out.

Is a ring light bad for your eyes?

The label on an eye drop doesn’t speak to lighting, and we won’t make claims about light and eye health either way. What’s easy to notice is comfort: a bright light pointed straight at your face makes many people squint, and squinting for hours is tiring. A few adjustments make a ring light easier to live with:

• Move it slightly to one side and above eye level, rather than directly in your line of sight.
• Lower the brightness and add a second, softer light so no single source has to be so strong.
• Bounce light off a wall or use a diffuser to soften it.
• Match the brightness of your monitor roughly to the room so your eyes aren’t adjusting between extremes.

If bright light suddenly bothers you much more than it used to, or if your eyes hurt under it, that’s a question for an eye doctor.

Chat on a second screen

Reading chat on a side monitor means constant eye and head movement between two points, and each glance is another moment of focus. Some ways to ease that:

• Place the chat monitor close beside the main screen and at the same height.
• Use a chat overlay on the main display for part of the stream.
• Raise the chat font size so you read at a glance rather than squinting.
• Turn the second screen slightly toward you so you’re not viewing it at a sharp angle.

Our guide to dry eyes with multiple monitors covers desk layouts in more detail.

Airflow in a streaming room

A high-end PC throws heat, and many streamers run a fan or air conditioner to keep the room bearable on camera. Moving air across the face speeds up evaporation from the eye.

• Point desk fans at your chest or away from you.
• Make sure PC exhaust isn’t venting toward your seat.
• In winter, keep space heaters aimed at your legs.
• Consider a small humidifier in the room, cleaned as its manual directs.

Building breaks into a live schedule

Breaks are easier to take when they’re part of the format. Viewers are used to “be right back” screens.

• Set a BRB scene with music and schedule one at a regular interval, such as every hour.
• Use loading screens, match queues and ad breaks to look away from the monitor and blink fully a few times.
• Tell chat what you’re doing; regulars often start reminding you.
• End marathon sessions with time away from screens, not scrolling clips on your phone.

Using drops during a stream

Step off camera to do it. Wash your hands, then follow the label: Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye. Keep the tip clean, as the label says: Do not touch tip of bottle to any surface to avoid contamination. Your keyboard, mouse and desk are all surfaces. A drop can blur your vision for a moment, so give it time to clear before you jump back into a ranked match; is it normal for vision to blur after eye drops? explains more.

Quell is designed to reinforce the tear film’s oil layer to help reduce moisture loss. Its Uses read: For use as a protectant against further irritation or to relieve dryness of the eye. Before you buy, read the caution: Caution should be used in those with egg or bird allergies — For use in the eyes only. Store it as the label directs: Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F). That rules out sitting on top of a warm PC case. The whole label is on the Drug Facts page.

Streaming eye strain and what the label leaves to a doctor

If you wear contact lenses on stream, the Quell label doesn’t cover using it with lenses, so ask your eye doctor or pharmacist. The same goes for combining it with other eye drops. And if your eyes stay dry after you change your setup and take breaks, or if anything hurts, the label is clear: Stop use and ask a doctor if you feel eye pain or changes in your vision, if irritation or redness continues, or if the condition worsens or persists for 72 hours.

Gamers have their own guide, eye drops for gamers, and you can buy Quell as a guest without an account.