Eye Strain

What is Eye Strain?

Eye strain occurs when your eyes become tired from intense use, such as staring at screens, reading, or driving for long periods. It can cause discomfort, headaches, blurred vision, and difficulty focusing. Though not serious, persistent eye strain can affect productivity and visual comfort.

How is Eye Strain caused?

Eye strain, also known as asthenopia, occurs when the eye muscles become fatigued from focusing on a single task or object for extended periods. This can lead to blurry vision, headaches, double vision, or migraines. Symptoms often worsen when reading small text, using computers at close distances, or working in dim light.

When the eyes are overused or exposed to glare, especially during long gaming or screen sessions, blinking frequency decreases, causing dryness and irritation that intensify strain. Incorrect or outdated glasses prescriptions can also contribute to discomfort. Eye conditions like myopia, hyperopia, or astigmatism may further aggravate symptoms. Visiting an optometrist for proper diagnosis and lens correction can help relieve eye strain.

Symptoms of Eye Strain:

Common symptoms of eye strain include sore, dry, or uncomfortable eyes, blurred or double vision, and difficulty focusing. You may also experience headaches or migraines, neck and back pain, sensitivity to light, and tightness in the temples or forehead.

Types of Eye Strain:

Eye strain, or asthenopia, occurs when your eyes feel tired or achy from overuse. Common forms include Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS), caused by prolonged screen time, and astigmatism-related strain, which results from an irregularly shaped cornea, making it harder for your eyes to focus.

Treatment for Eye Strain:

• Give your eyes plenty of rest: There is nothing like closing your eyes and feeling that cooling sensation after a long, hectic day. Even though you may not be able to close your eyes for long, take a moment to close them for a few seconds when possible.

• Adjust the lighting: The type of light we work in plays a key role in eye health. Avoid working and reading in poor light, and wherever possible, replace it with a more natural light, such as sunlight.

• Use of computers and mobile phones: Our everyday life revolves around these two devices. Although you usually cannot stop using your computer, laptop or mobile phone, you can set your screen brightness to a more appropriate level for reading.

• Take frequent breaks: Doing any task for a long time in one spot can be both visually and physically tiring. Get up and take a brief walk for a few minutes. You may also want to add in some stretches and practice eye exercises, such as the 20–20–20 rule: after 20 minutes of nearby work, look at something about 20 feet away and focus on it for 20 seconds.