What is Eye Strain?

Eye Strain or Asthenopia can be very annoying. Likewise, it can be disturbing and it may prevent a person from doing his or her best in specific tasks. Its symptoms are tired, red eyes which may make people want to just close their eyes and sleep, itchy eyes which is very irritating, and burning eyes which can make people very uncomfortable. Aside from being unsightly, eye strain can make people suffer from discomfort and even pains at times.

Eye Strain is rarely a common eye condition and can easily be prevented even just by basic eye care. However, there are also some rare instances when this is not exactly the condition but is just a symptom of a deeper health concern. It is time to see a doctor when the eye strain comes with a headache, when the person suffers from too much discomfort, when one starts to have double vision, or if there is any major change in one’s vision.

Photo from Eye Strain Org

Causes of Eye Strain

Eye strain is usually caused by different activities that demands intense use of a person’s eyes or using the eyes for a very long period of time. Some examples of this condition’s causes are driving, writing, and reading for hours. Likewise, hours of exposure of the eyes to different devices such as computers, mobile phones, and game consoles, can cause a person to suffer from eye strain. This kind of eye strain is also called the computer vision syndrome. This happens when a person’s ciliary muscle gets too tight.

Eye Strain Symptoms

·         Eye irritation. This includes redness and itchiness that can make a person very uncomfortable. Although it may look like the eyes of a person who did not get enough sleep, it is different because of the discomfort that it brings.

·         Can’t focus. Another symptom is when a person cannot seem to focus his or her eyes to a specific subject.

·         Dryness. Some people’s eyes get too dry when they suffer from eye strain. On the other hand, there are some whose eyes get too watery.

·         Blurry. People may also suffer from blurry vision. This may prevent a person from performing his or her tasks well. This is also known as double vision to some.

·         Light Sensitivity. People who suffer from eye strain may become extremely sensitive to any form of light.

·         Pain. Some symptoms are pain in different parts of the body like the shoulders, the neck, the eyes, or around the person’s eyes, and the back.

How to Handle Eye Strain

Although eye strain is not really directly treated, there are some pretty simple ways of getting rid of it or stopping its symptoms.

·         When acquired through reading, one can get rid of eye strain through increasing the lighting and decreasing the glare. One can also take a break more frequently to give the eyes some time to rest.

·         Blinking more frequently can help the eyes.

·         Keep at least 20 inches of distance from the TV or computer screen.