An Overview of Eye Strain (Asthenopia)

Eye strain (asthenopia) is when your eyes become tired, sore, or achy after focusing on a task like crafting or reading for too long. Prolonged use of the muscles that make your eyes move and control how much light gets in causes them to fatigue, which is what leads to these symptoms.

Eye strain has especially become a concern with the heavy use of smartphones, tablets, and other such devices. Eye fatigue related to use of these items is called digital eye strain.

Eye strain is usually temporary and should improve on its own if the eyes are given a chance to rest. Eye strain does not permanently harm your eyes or affect your vision.

This article discusses eye strain and its causes. It also discusses the diagnosis and treatment of eye strain.

Eye Strain Symptoms

Symptoms of eye strain include:

• Eye pain
• Dry eyes
• Itching or burning eyes
• Squinting
• Headaches, especially around your eyes and forehead
• Blurred or doubled vision
• Poor concentration
• Eye twitch
• Photophobia, or light sensitivity

You may feel eye strain after you've spent a long time doing a visual activity like reading a book or playing a computer game. Sometimes you may not notice until you stop what you are doing.

The effects of eye strain usually only last a short while. At times, though, symptoms can last for several hours.

If you often have eye strain and you don't take breaks, you may develop symptoms faster and more often. You may start feeling eye strain right after starting an activity instead of hours later.

What Causes Eye Strain?

Eye strain happens when the muscles that focus your eyes become tired.

Ciliary muscles change the shape of the lens in your eye. They bend the lens in different ways so that you can focus on near or far objects. Eye strain occurs after long periods of using these muscles. Activities that can cause eye strain include:

• Reading
• Driving
• Working on a tiny craft or project

Smartphones and other handheld electronic devices can also cause eye strain. Small fonts and blue light can be hard on the eyes.

When you move your eyes rapidly, it exhausts your extraocular muscles. These are the muscles that move your eyes from side to side and up and down. Playing video games can cause this kind of eye strain.

Risk Factors For Eye Strain

Anyone can get eye strain. It is common in children and adults of all ages. Some people may be more prone to eye strain, including:

• Students who spend hours reading or working on a computer
• People who work at a computer all day
• People in jobs that require a lot of reading
  

People with vision problems are also more at risk—especially if they need vision correction, such as glasses or contact lenses, but don't use it. These problems include:

• Farsightedness, when you have difficulty seeing close objects
• Nearsightedness, when you have difficulty seeing things at a distance
• Astigmatism, when you have blurred, distorted vision
  

Vision problems make it harder for you to focus your eyes. When you have these problems, your eye muscles will strain to focus. The effort to focus both eyes when one is worse than the other can also cause eye strain.

People with dry eye disease, or a lack of sufficient moisture in the eyes, are also more likely to have eye strain. The same is true for those who are exhausted or do not get enough sleep.

Diagnosis of Eye Strain

If your symptoms go away after a few minutes of resting your eyes, you probably have eye strain. If this happens frequently, you may have a problem with your vision. Corrective lenses like glasses or contacts can help.

Additional symptoms like nausea or severe eye pain may indicate a different health problem. Your healthcare provider may want to do tests to find the cause of your symptoms.

An eye exam is more than just vision testing. Your healthcare provider will also look at the structure of your eyes with eye examination devices such as an ophthalmoscope.

Other Possible Diagnoses

The following conditions are associated with eye strain, but are unique diagnoses that may benefit from additional treatment.

• Migraines: If you have eye pain, fatigue, headaches, photophobia, and irritability, you could have migraines. Migraines can be triggered by eye strain, but they tend to last longer. They also don't improve with eye rest.
• Tension headaches: Tension headaches feel like pressure on your forehead and around the back of your head. They can lead to pain behind your eyes, as well as eye strain.
• Viral conjunctivitis: Also called pink eye, viral conjunctivitis is highly contagious. When you have this common infection, the white parts of your eyes appear pink. You will also develop crustiness around your eyes and eyelids. You may have eyestrain, and your eyes may feel itchy and possibly painful.

Treatment for Eye Strain

No medication or procedure can relieve eye strain. However, resting your eyes, being aware of your environment when performing a task, making adjustments to digital devices, and getting your vision corrected (if needed) can help you manage it.

Rest Your Eyes

When you feel eye strain coming on, close your eyes for a few seconds. This can even help when your eye strain is severe.

If you perform tasks that require long periods of reading or looking at tiny objects, take breaks. Look away every 20 minutes or so. Try closing your eyes or focusing on something at a distance.

Change the Light

Always work or read in good light. Even if dim light seems fine to you, it could cause eye strain later on.

Adjust Computers and Phones

Set your screen so it is just bright enough. The contrast should be comfortable for reading. When working at a computer, sit an arm's length from the screen.

Many electronic devices have modes that display warmer colors that cause less eye strain than blue lights. Look for a setting called "color temperature" or "nighttime mode" to make nighttime reading easier.

Also, adjust the font size on your phone or computer. A font that is too small can be hard to see. A large font takes up too much space on the screen, making it hard to read large documents. Use a clear, easy-to-read font.

Have Your Vision Problem Corrected

If you have frequent eye strain, you could have a vision problem. Make an appointment to have your eyes checked.

Summary

Eye strain is common. It is caused by overuse of the eye muscles. Symptoms include dry eyes, eye pain, headaches, and blurry vision.

Reading, driving, or looking at small things up close can cause eye strain. Using screens and playing video games can also contribute. Eye strain is common in people who have uncorrected vision problems.

If your eyes feel better with rest, you probably have eye strain. Giving your eyes a rest from constant focus can help.

A Word From Verywell

Eye strain is fairly common. Still, you may benefit from adopting habits that give your eyes a rest.

Remember that your vision can change over the years. Regular eye exams can identify and correct vision problems. Ultimately, this can help relieve eye strain.