Feeling dizzy or nausea after using iPad

One more thing to mention, i use my blackberry (Curve 9360) for many hours every day with no headache at all. The screen is TFT,480 x 360 pixels. But the iphone 3gs, with TFT 320 x 480 pixels causes me severe headache within 10 mins of use. Do you know anything about the active screen playing a role to this? iphone 3gs does not have a led backlite screen but still creates the problem. Any idea?

It is inded the screen that flickers. Some people can see the flicker, such as me. Both LED-screens and fluorescent-tube backlights flicker, but at completely different rates. Some fluorescent have a more disturbing refreshrate which is around 300-600 times per second while the more comfortable ones are probably 2000+ per second. But what I've noticed is that those screens that have only one backlight strip of fluorescent tubes in mobile phones are far more comfortable than those that have two. Reason being that the two may flicker at a slightly different rate causing oscillations that can cause nausea.

LEDs can be really good, or way, way way worse than fluorescents. So in that sence fluorescents are safer. This is an article created in 1996 including several testaments from different users: http://www.cloanto.com/users/mcb/19960719lcd.html What you want to concentrate is on flicker, because everything else can be mitigated and tested - and it does not solve the problem! + as per the testaments, there are several who can attest to the fact that it is indeed the flicker. Whether it is LED or fluorescent flicker is of no importance - what matters is the flicker frequency rate and possible pulsating/oscillating light, as with for example flashes of light causing epileptic seizures.

I have owned in the past 5 years approximately 15 different monitors. Some I've sold since they flicker, some I've taken to work. I have five screens here at work, of which two are my main work displays. I've bought the least flicker models (fluorescent) on ebay fearing I won't find them in the future. At home I have a modest two, in addition to my laptop screens.

As for the phone, I don't think iphones are as bad as the ipads - they probably have a slightly different refreshrates. Oled screens ARE better by definition because different colour intensities flicker at a different rate. Thus if you read on an OLED screen against a white background you may feel queazy, but if you choose a light coloured colourful background picture for your background while having black text you will find the reading experience much smoother. Funnily I've noticed that the cheaper the screen, the less flicker. The worst are power efficient Lenovos and Sonys, ipads etc. I suspect that power efficiency and the negative effects of flicker are closely tied together.

I upgraded myself to samsung galaxy note to replace my phone and my ipad all in one.. It flickers very little, still easily perceivable, but I have never had a headache from it. There are definitely better out there, but it's good enough for me and for once I'm happy. A shame really, I love ipad apps.. reading the economist etc. was a breeze. eInk displays are always the best, whether they have wifi or not - airplane mode will not help with this issue. The amount of radiation is miniscule and you would have a fit each time you walk past feet away a wifi-basestation which are far more powerful than what an ipad sends out. Plus if your laptop /w wifi doesn't bother you but ipad does, there's another clue. If you're still wondering whether it's any radiation etc. just turn the ipad backside up. You'll feel instantly better while getting MORE radiation from the antenna which is on the back side of the ipad.

Besides, your health comes first. If you can't use your ipad, don't force yourself. Sell it. Many (like my friend whom I sold mine to) will be happy to use it and will never have problems with it. At least I slept better, without headaches.

Thanks for the explanations. It seems you have made your research!

I tested a friend's Galaxy SII for a couple of days and although the first hours of use I did not experience any symptoms later on I felt a strong headache and dizziness. I thought the super amoled screen will do for me, but it didn't.

On the other hand I used a sony netbook with a led backlit screen for many working days, and although I felt a little eye strain it did not cause me headache or dizziness.

Furthermore I have never experienced any headache from cell phone radiation for the last 10 years I use cell phones. I have also visited a doctor and all tests showed there is nothing wrong with me. So I am a bit confused as to what causes this problem. As soon as I stop the use of the touch screen phone, everything is fine.

The use of iPhone or similar (in terms of screen size) is somehow useful to me because I receive on a daily basis company reports to which I need to respond while I am on the move. At the moment I use my blackberry, but the screen is small and it is not comfortable to work with. Yet I get no headaches, so I will probably continue to work like this untill a touch screen phone comes up that does not cause me these symptoms.

Thanks again for the comments.

That's certainly a mouthful. Before anyone gets carried away, let's put a few things straight.

If you never have problems when talking on a phone/smartphone against your ear, or when walking past trasmitters etc. but get headaches when reading from your ipad, you don't have EHS.

I know about the cases - or one prominent case in particular. I've studied myself at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). It's a **** shame you can't live in the city nor anywhere near cities or phone masts etc. because of the effects. The effects appear to get worse with more (heavy) exposure, as with the case of a Swedish mobile techonology engineer. In practice you have to move outside of the city with no mobile connectivity, nor electrical devices which emit electrical radiation.

A phone mast was installed in Britain. Suddenly many people were feeling ill and they felt that it was causing problems such as headaches etc. A study was made where the phone mast was turned on and off for periods of weeks, measurements were done and a questioneer was put out. People were suffering equally with or without the mast being on. It had NO correlation with exposure to radiowaves. The only cause that was left ater ruling others out was psychosomatics.

If your problems are limited to an ipad and few odd models, you don't have EHS.

If you claim you have EHS and think this is the cause, then think carefully - because it impacts your life and cause a lot of unneeded stress that may very well be the cause of your ailments. It doesn't, however, mean that any radiation would be the actual cause. If you go posting something like this without reading the symptoms or problem descriptions accurately, with the thought of converting people to the belief that everyone has EHS, and taking no sort of responsibly of what you are saying.. DON'T do it. Self-education is a dangerous thing if you get to choose your sources yourself without objectivity - it only amounts to scaremongering.

Thinking you have/get EHS from an ipad while never having the symptoms before or never having the symptoms of EHS when discontinuing the use of your ipad despite all the emissions around our habitat, you are basically showing disrispect to those who are actually suffering from EHS, always, constantly, no matter how they try to avoid it, and finally resort into moving away from civilisation.

Not of course saying that there couldn't be some on this forum actually suffering from EHS. This, however, is highly unlikely.

Cheers!

Dear Wibin

Unfortunately i came down with EHS in 2008, not something i enjoy having.

260.000 citizens in Sweden have ES thats 6% of the population.

Sorry to hear that. 😟

It's not fun regardless of what causes it. it's just really important to pinpoint the cause, so that you can do your best to rectify the situation.

I get dizzy and feel sleepy in certain lighting due to the flicker of lights. Like the classrooms I used to sit in. Not fun. When they turn off the lights and turn on the projector I feel instantly better whilst most of the others begin to doze off in the darkness. Maybe these also contribute to ADD/ADHD, which in my case is very bad. But at least that can largely be fixed with pills.

The reaction to all manner of external stimuli is very individual.

Some of you getting dizziness from looking at computer/ iPad screens may have migraine associated vertigo or MAV. I have this problem and have found that sometimes I can habituate to a new screen over a period of 2-3 weeks or, if the impact is really strong, have to give up completely. I was not able to use the MacBook Air but did adapt to the iPad 2. Not good on the 3rd gen iPad so far. Instant dizziness.

The problem lies in the visual impact on the brain. Obviously the new iPad is brighter and sharper and that coupled with an LED backlit screen will trigger this in susceptible people. There's a discussion on it here as well:

http://www.mvertigo.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3255

I know what you mean. I have the new iPad am doing better now Thank God. I found out it is harder for the brain to detect the extra pixels. Also I have an inner ear problem with having to wear tubes in my ear drum. So when my Equilibrium is off due to my ear problems it makes it worse. The dizziness and headaches.

How long did it take you to get used to the new one? Did you use it for just short periods at first? I tried putting a matte screen over it to reduce the impact but it looked worse and was annoying so I peeled it off.

well i was disapointed at first because i got Nausea and dizzy. So i Let that feeling go away and i came back to the ipad just to look at my email for 5 to 10 minutes and put it down after that and rest my eyes. Now my eyes have gotten use to it and I can use it for about an hour now and put it down and I am doing better with it. I Love my new iPad and its far superior then my old galaxy tablet from Samsung and my nook tablet that i sold. i guess i am a apple fan for life. But a person has to be real careful with getting use to the screen. And if they can't get use to it they should be able to return it as it can be a medical condition. And your health is important more important then having the iPad.

Thanks HGI. I'm going to do exactly as you did and use it for 10 min then take long breaks until my eyes and brain adjust. The screen really does look phenomenal. This has to work.

NO! YOU ARE NOT ALONE! When I play a very fast game, like Jetpack Joyride, I get dizzy really fast! 😉. Join the club!

I've been using the old ipad 2 without any problem. LOVED IT.

But I am experiencing the instant dizziness and naseaus with the NEW ipad3 as well.

So far, I tried calling apple support once and the tech guys told me it's out of their domain and transfer me to the sales support.

Was put on hold forever at sales support and I gave up.

I was thinking of exchanging the new ipad 3 for an old ipad2. I want the 3G connection as my current ipad2 is wifi only.

Anyone know who we can talk to regarding this ? I can't find any email contact for apple.