Causes of eyestrain headaches and effective prevention techniques

Eyestrain headaches are a common problem faced by many due to various reasons. Be it excessive hours of screen time, putting too much pressure on the eyes, or not getting enough rest to your eyes all these tasks can cause strain on your eyes which may lead to those uninvited eyestrain headaches.

Eyestrain as the name suggests is the condition in which the eye muscles tend to get tired due to excessive pressure or overusing it. This can cause various problems like headaches, dryness in the eye, and high sensitivity to light that may affect your day to day errands.

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Understanding the causes of eyestrain headaches

How to recognize if you are suffering from a headache due to eyestrain? (Image by Freepik)

If you are suffering from eyestrain headache the common symptoms of it could be pain in the back of the head, blurred vision, watery eyes, dry eyes or facing difficulty in concentrating.

The triggers for eyestrain headaches are mostly due to excessive eye activity. When you extensively focus on something for a longer amount of time. However, by giving some rest to the eyes you might feel better.

Another condition due to which one may face these eyestrains is improper focusing on objects. People with nearsightedness or farsightedness might put extra strain on your eyes.

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How to prevent headaches due to eyestrain?

How can you avoid these headaches? (Image by master1305 on Freepik)

Eye strain can be caused due to excessive time on the computer, be it due to online classes, meetings, or gaming bringing simple changes in your routine can help you get rid of headaches due to eyestrain.

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Taking regular breaks

When you are working on your computer for too long you can adopt the 20-20-20 rule in your routine where you take a break from whatever you are working on and take a look at an object 20 feet away from you for 20 seconds every 20 minutes.

Implementing this can help with the strain on eye muscles. Along with this keeping your screen at least 20 to 25 inches away from you can prevent your eyes from strain.

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Proper lighting

The best way to prevent strain on the eyes along with taking breaks can be doing the work in proper lighting. If your work includes writing or sitting in front of a screen, having proper lighting can reduce the strain and avoid those headaches.

When you try to focus with poor lighting your eyes need to work harder to interpret the work putting strain on the eyes. Thus, having a well-lit room can help you prevent eyestrain headaches.

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Wearing proper eyewear

Eyestrain from a computer can be due to the blue light or glare from light reflecting back from your screen. One can wear glasses that can block the incoming blue lights.

Further, one should avoid wearing contact lenses while working as they might cause uninvited stress to your eyes along with irritation. So it is best practice to avoid wearing contact lenses during work involving screens.

In addition to this, your eyes might get dry when you do not blink regularly so blinking regularly can help you keep the moisture and avoid the dryness altogether.

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Taking short breaks and keeping your eyes closed for some time can help you relax your eyes. Also, taking artificial tears can be another solution in order to reduce the dryness in the eyes.

However, if the eyestrain headaches are persistent it is better to get it checked by medical professionals.

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Eyestrain headaches are a prevalent problem faced by many due to their hectic routine. Getting regular eye check-ups and giving regular rest to your eyes can reduce the chances of eyestrain headaches altogether.