Eye drops for gamers

Gamers stare hard at a screen for hours, and concentration cuts how often you blink, so the tear film has longer to evaporate between blinks. Lubricating drops can help when eyes feel dry. Quell’s label lists it For use as a protectant against further irritation or to relieve dryness of the eye, and its directions are Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye, so plan them around sessions rather than adding more during a long night.

Eye strain from video games: what’s going on

Each blink spreads a fresh layer of tears across the eye. When you’re tracking enemies across a map or reading a fast-scrolling raid chat, you blink less often and sometimes only halfway. The surface of the eye dries out a little between those blinks, and over a three-hour session that adds up to the gritty, tired feeling that sends people searching for answers.

Competitive play makes it worse than casual play. A tense ranked match or a speedrun attempt holds your gaze rigidly on one spot; a relaxed open-world session lets your eyes wander more. If your eyes feel worst after ranked nights, that’s probably why.

Set up the rig for your eyes

• Sit far enough back. A monitor that fills your entire field of view forces more eye movement and less blinking. If you’re on a big TV, sit farther from it than you would a desk monitor.
• Put the top of the monitor at or slightly below eye level, so you look a little downward. Your lids cover more of the eye that way, and less surface is exposed to the air.
• Match screen brightness to the room. A bright screen in a dark bedroom makes you squint; a lamp behind the monitor evens it out.
• Turn PC fans, desk fans and air-conditioning vents so they don’t blow across your face.
• Keep a glass of water on the desk; you’ll reach for it during loading screens.

Breaks between matches

The natural pauses in a game are your breaks. Lobby queues, respawn timers, cutscenes you’ve already seen and the walk to the fridge all count. Use them to look across the room or out a window, which relaxes the focusing muscles, and to blink deliberately a few times. A full, slow blink does more to spread the tear film than a dozen fast half-blinks.

A simple routine for a long session might look like this:

• Before you start, take one of your three daily drops, then give it a minute before you put the headset on.
• Between every match or two, look away from the screen for twenty seconds and blink slowly.
• Every hour or so, stand up, stretch and leave the room for a few minutes.
• After a long session, use another of your daily drops if your eyes feel dry, and keep the third for whatever part of the day is hardest on them.

Eye drops for gaming: how to use them well

The label doesn’t change for gamers, and it doesn’t allow extra drops for long sessions. Three drops a day is the direction; if you find yourself wanting more, that’s a question for an eye doctor. Can I use more than three drops a day? explains why.

Hands that have been on a controller or a mouse for hours aren’t clean. Wash them before using drops, and remember the label’s instruction: Do not touch tip of bottle to any surface to avoid contamination. Don’t set the open bottle down on the desk next to the keyboard while you tilt your head back.

Quell is a milky brown emulsion. The eye drops have a naturally milky-brown appearance. This is normal and does not indicate a problem with the product. It may blur your view for a moment after a drop, so put one in between matches, not mid-fight.

Keep the bottle off the console

Consoles and gaming PCs push warm air out of their vents, and the top of a console or the shelf behind a tower is often the warmest spot in the room. Quell’s label says Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F). A drawer in the desk or a shelf across the room keeps it in range. The same goes for a gaming laptop bag left in a hot car, which can you leave eye drops in a hot car? covers.

Eye drops for video games and LAN events

At a tournament or LAN party, the air in a hall full of machines tends to be warm and dry, and the sessions run long. Pack the bottle in a pocket of your backpack, not loose next to your laptop charger. If you’re flying to an event, traveling with eye drops covers what airport security allows.

What drops can’t fix

Drops address dryness. They won’t fix a screen that’s too close, a room that’s too dark or a session that’s simply too long. If your eyes ache, your vision blurs and doesn’t clear, or the discomfort follows you into days you don’t play, see an eye doctor. 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.

Players under 18 can’t order from this site and should talk to a parent and a doctor before using any eye drops. The label doesn’t cover contact lenses either, and plenty of gamers wear them; contact lenses and Quell explains what to ask your eye doctor.