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Feeling dizzy or nausea after using iPad

Is it just me or someone else also feels dizzy or nausea after using iPad for a while?

I guess it might have to do with the scrolling effect, especially in Safari. I don't know what is the term to describe the cool effect of speeding up at the beginning and the slowing down at the end of a scrolling move, which simulates the movement of a physical object. It is ok on a smaller screen (on iPhone). But on the bigger screen (on iPad), I feel like the whole world is moving in front of me. I simply wish there is just a page up or page down button.

Am I alone?

ipad, iPhone OS 3.1.3

Posted on Apr 13, 2010 8:42 PM

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248 replies

Sep 29, 2013 1:34 PM in response to Elaineyd

Hi Elaineyd, it may not be the leds that are actually causing the problem. There is an interesting discussion from people that seem to know the subject (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1677617?start=1185&tstart=0).


These people are talking about temporal dithering, which is a way for manufacturers to produce color variations on displays. From what i understand this technique causes some kind of flicker, which is not the traditional one we could detect with the pencil test. It could be the main cause for our eye strain and headaches.


Mar 21, 2014 12:22 AM in response to Exandas

hI everyone, it's lucky for me to find this post, cause I am going through a tough situation with ipad mini 2.


It's a amazing device! BUt what it makes me feel is definately unberable. I got a sick feeling almost instantaneously aftter using it, at first it was not too severe, but bit by bit, it grows unberable. Unlike the symtomes of other people in this thread, I don't feel too much nausea or dizzness, instead, I feel rather tired, it's like something got stuck in my chest, gradually, I feel more and more exthausted and after about 30 minutes I had to stop.


It takes about 2 days away from my ipad then I started feeling just as fine. I am pretty sure wifi or other wireless signal is not the cause, since most of the time I use it without wireless connection. And, I don't get motion sickness, I can play 3D games for long hours.


Now it's really confusing, due to the symtomes I get, I either have to sell my ipad or put it away. What a shame for such a beautiful device!


Have you found any proper explaination?

Mar 21, 2014 7:44 AM in response to Star Traveler

Star Traveler wrote:


Just use the settings that Apple has placed there and remove the "motion" items. Then everything will be relatively fixed and you won't have the dizzying motion aspects. Apple put those controls in there to answer your problem!

Note that the "motion" items were not cuaing any problems in this thread as there was no motion prior to iOS 7.

Apr 22, 2014 3:44 PM in response to YuanLin

I'm so glad I found this post! I've been suffering from dizzyness and extreme headaches for years. It started with computer screens. I found out I couldn't work with screens with a refresh rate lower than 75hz. But then I got an Android Tab and felt the same as with the computer monitors. Starting with a really tired feeling in and above the eyes, noticing a subtile flickr and then the headache and sometimes nausea comes in. The headache doesn't go away with anything, just a night sleep let it go away.


Last Summer I ordered a new computer screen because my old one (Acer, non-widescreen) got a bit too old. As I'm doing lots of photo-editing, it's useful to have a good screen. I placed and connected the new screen, put it on and felt it immediately. Unfortunately the refresh rate couldn't get higher than 60hz. After informing I knw now that most of the new screens you can buy these days, do not have higher refresh rates than 60h.


Then I started savind money for the iPad Air, which I wanted so badly. I bought it last februari and after working with it about 10 to 20 minutes, the noticing of flickering and headache came. I returned the iPad to the shop. I was so frustrated. Now I really want to buy the iPhone 5S. I've been seeing it in shops and I notice the screen 'feels' different to my iPhone 4S, which I can work normally with. There is a change I will experience the same problem with the 5S as with the iPad Air, I really hope it works out this time, because otherwise it would mean it would be very hard to buy a new phone ever again.


I am visually impaired, which means I have a sight of 5% plus nystagmus and my right eye is only 3%, which causes it to be unable to focus so my eyes aren't moving equally. I always thought the sensitivity for this kind of screens had to do with the fact I am bad sighted, or maybe even the nystagmus. Reading this post makes clear for me this isn't a problem I am suffering from by myself alone plus, it's not directly related to my visual impairment. Even though I didn't find a solution here, I'm glad to meet other people who are suffering from the same problem. In my case it's purely the screen, so the LED problem. I have never noticed problems with led light before, but it comes up on computer screens and tablets/smartphones.

Dec 25, 2014 8:01 PM in response to YuanLin

It's kinda wierd, most people feel dizzy after using the ipad for a few months, but I have benn using it fore more than 5 years without any problems no matter how much I watch it. But, I kinda broke it down at the bottom and I suddenly get sick. I can even stay on the computer very long time and I never had such peoblem. Is there something wrong with me or the ipad?

Mar 13, 2015 11:15 AM in response to Anoyous

I LOVE my iPad mini 2 but after about 3 months I started to get nausea whenever I used it. Unfortunately the nausea lasts for several hours. On one occasion I used it before going to bed and later woke up so disorientated that I vomited.


I tried all the following solutions but the problem hasn't stopped: 1) Turned down the brightness, 2) Applied Reduce Motion, 3) Turned off Wi-fi and Bluetooth.


The problem appears to be caused by motion on the screen (scrolling etc). Unless Apple come up with a ZERO MOTION option where there's no scrolling or zooming then I won't be able to use it anymore.


I also get nausea from reading in a car or going on some fairground rides, so I guess I'm part of that small percentage of sufferers.

Mar 13, 2015 11:49 AM in response to eightspace

I really feel for you. I'm so glad I don't get these problems. I can read in the bus as long as it doesn't bounce me up and down too much. (Sometimes I wonder if bus manufacturers know what shock absorbers are, though obviously the road manufacturers must bear some of the criticism.) But it doesn't make me sick; it just means I can't focus because the page is jerking too much.


However, if your problem is caused by motion on the screen, wouldn't you get it scrolling on an ordinary computer?


And BTW, it isn't only the iPad that causes this sort of problem in susceptible people. I think it's partly the type of screen being used in many tablets, computers (and televisions) these days. The old CRT displays didn't seem to cause problems. We'd probably find them rather blurry now, though!

Feeling dizzy or nausea after using iPad

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