how do you protect your eyes...

after few weeks of learning, reading and staring at the charts, I feel my visions are a little blurry, and it's only the beginning...makes me wonder how are your eyes doing for those long time traders ??

http://www.iconico.com/easyRead/
Get this free and try to sit further away from screen and get a 100cm LCD TV screen.
Unfortunately google could not give me a link to get the FREE LCD TV

I think you'd only run into that problem on older CRTs with the slightly curved screens because your eyes have to be constantly re-focusing. I don't think your eyes should have any problem if the screen is flat, so if it really becomes a problem, I'd recommend getting a flat panel monitor. You can get a 17in one for just around $150. I've got a laptop and I've spent hours a day for months on it and I've never had any kind of problem with my eyes.

Get yourself anything flat, projector, flat screen CRT, flat panel ... if it's a CRT monitor .. make sure the refresh rate is at least 85 Hz.

Do not trade intra-day thus avoiding you to stare at charts just to catch every tick....

Nothing beats the flat panel monitor. Buying a 19 inch LCD monitor was the best computer purchase I have made. Play with the settings until you get it to look (in my view) perfect.

thank you all for being helpful, i guess i do need a better monitor, I've checked out the iconic and it's a great idea thank you highway. after browsing for some time, i feel that this forum is very Special because it's got Soul, from the sweats and tears of all the traders with a 'hope' to be financial independance, it's tough but all we can do is to keep going, there's no easy route to life unless you're really lucky, maybe one in a million... my wish is that one year from now i'll have enough experience to start making real money from forex, and the same to you all.

I've noticed that after nearly two years of study at about 24 inches away from a trio of nice flat panel LDC monitors that, though my eyesight is great, my focus is now, um, er, a bit farther away than pre-trading days.

: ) Thom

Bear in mind the absolute best thing in preventing further eyestrain is to stop straining your eyes when you detect it. I mean if the computer is straining them and you notice this, then stop... it only gets really bad if you continue to ignore these signs and don't give your eyes a break.

With this in mind, here are my tips:

1. use only LCD monitor (I was personally surprised someone mentioned this... I didn't think people used CRTs anymore, except those crazy guys with 21 CRT monitors they got for free)
2. don't spend so much time in front of the computer. This one is obvious. If you are spending too much time in front of the computer for trading, ask yourself.... is there a better way to trade more effectively?
3. eat a balanced, healthy diet including green leafy vegetables and sources of B vitamins and B12. Beta-carotene too. I am no expert, this #3 is just a guess. Drink water too. Exercise probably helps too?
4. DAMAGE CONTROL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok this is the most interesting part...

DAMAGE CONTROL:

Forget about all the hocus pocus eye exercises... they are good but too much work. This is by far the best method to relieve eyestrain that I have ever used.

get a face cloth, put it under hot water (or very warm). Then put it on your closed eyes for 30 seconds. Then run the cloth under ice cold water and then put on your eyes for 30 seconds. Repeat as much as necessary, but at least a few times. I tried this lying down the first time... but that is ineffective. Just put the TV on and do it in front of the sink for a few mins.

note: Don't expect to be able to use the computer after this! Your eyes will go blurry and out of focus for a while. This is good At least I like it. This really helps with the eyes. But don't take my word, your mileage may vary... research on internet about this to see if it is for you. But as I said, nothing else relieved my excessively strained eyes as much as this.

If you don't notice much after doing this, then good news for you... your eyes weren't nearly as badly strained as you thought!

It is good advice but perhaps a better suggestion is don't trade intra-day for long periods of time and take breaks from the screen during your intra-day trading. If the market is not going anywhere, why stare?

in my opinion glasses are a last resort... once you go down that path, it is very hard to fix your eyes.

I'm sure there are many people who screwed up their eyes by wearing glasses unnecessarily.