In order to minimize symptoms from my inner ear damage, I’ve had to make a lot of changes to how I do things, including how I use the computer. I’ve detailed some of the ways I’ve modified my computer usage at work so that I can better make it through the workday.
I primarily use the page-up (or SHIFT+spacebar), page-down (or spacebar), and arrow keys for navigation. I also use CTRL+Home and CTRL+End to get to the top and bottom of documents, respectively. Using the buttons for navigation minimizes the amount of visual scrolling that your eyes have to see. There are still times when I need to use the mouse for scrolling, like for apps and websites that don’t allow for easy keyboard usage or when it’s just easier in general to use the mouse, but I try to minimize those times as much as I can and try to stop when I feel symptoms worsening. One thing I find extremely irritating on many websites is the navbar at the top that makes it harder to use the page-up and page-down buttons to move pages while reading a document. Too much of the page will scroll under the navbar when using the keys. In the past, I would use the mouse to adjust the page to the point I need to resume reading. I’ve found that using the up and down arrow keys to make the adjustment instead tends to do better to minimize symptoms. Also, a browser extension that allows you to hide the navbar and other interfering elements entirely is very helpful. One I’ve been able to install and use on Opera, Chrome, and Edge is the “Hide That!” extension. Once you’ve hidden the interfering elements, you can then use the page-up and page-down buttons normally to move through a document. Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to find a comparable extension for Firefox. One I tried to use ended up interfering with the browser’s general functionality, so I uninstalled it.
I use Microsoft Outlook on my PC for my work e-mail. On the left of the screen inside the app is the list of folders for my account. You can drag the folders to the positions you want. I ended up moving mine so that the ones that generally get new mail appear earlier in the list. That way, they’re always on the screen, so I’m not having to scroll down and up looking for new messages. Folders where I have saved messages and don’t generally get new mail are placed below, and I’ll just go to those only occasionally or whenever I have to save a new message to any of them. Microsoft Outlook also has options in the View menu for customizing the size of message previews. The font sizes can be made bigger so that they’re easier to read and see. This article has additional details. It also has details for changing the font size of messages. I’ve found it helpful to have a larger font size.
I also have to keep my office light on full brightness and my PC display on full brightness as well. I could not even tolerate a privacy screen covering the monitor because it made the screen too dark. I also cannot tolerate dark mode. Portions of PluralSight and Codecademy, two training websites I use on the job, have content displayed with some sort of dark mode. I found a high contrast extension for Chrome that helps somewhat with PluralSight, but it also changes the colors of images and videos. Sometimes the colors look terrible. To help with the video coloring, I tried using Video Filters. It was difficult switching between the settings whenever a new portion of the course started or a new video loaded, so I gave up after a time. For Codecademy, I tried to enlarge the fonts or zoom in on the page as much as I could to try to overcome any eyestrain with large text.
To maximize the benefits of the above changes, I also had to make sure my hearing and vision were properly corrected. I got stronger glasses late last year. I wear glasses for the computer, where the near strength in my progressive lenses for everyday wear is in the entire lens. I also wear hearing aids, the style that goes behind the ear, with domes (or the tips that go into the ear) that have little to no venting. While that style of dome can cause feelings of the ears being stopped-up or occlusion, it helps the most with my inner ear (or vestibular) symptoms.
I’m honestly not sure how much these are truly helping since I still do fall asleep at times at my desk, but I’ve been taking these caffeine/l-theanine capsules. I take one shortly after I get to work and one shortly after lunch. I have noticed a benefit at other times. I’ve not yet fallen asleep during a church service when I remember to take one of the capsules beforehand. I’m hoping they provide enough of a benefit to reduce the number of times I fall asleep at work even if they don’t completely eliminate the sleepiness.
While I still deal with some symptoms like sleepiness, these changes have for the most part brought about some improvements. I’m hopeful these changes may help others as well.
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