What is Eye Strain & How to Avoid it
Whether you spend hours staring at a screen at work or spend lots of time concentrating your eyes on specific tasks for your hobbies, anyone can be affected by eye strain. In this blog, we’re explaining what this is, the main symptoms and contributing factors, and how you can reduce your risk of experiencing eye strain.
What is eye strain?
When eyes feel uncomfortable from being overused, for example when concentrating or focusing on something for too long, this is often referred to as eye strain. It usually occurs when the muscles in the eyes become overworked, tired or sore. While it can cause discomfort, it usually isn’t something to be worried about.
Symptoms of eye strain
How can you identify that you have eye strain? Some of the tell-tale signs include:
- Difficulty focusing
- Blurred vision
- Discomfort in the eye
- Headaches (frontal headache/brow ache)
- Eyes that feel dry
- Burning sensation in the eyes
- Red eyes
- Light sensitivity
- Watery eyes
If you experience any one or a combination of these symptoms, it’s best to seek the advice of your eyecare professional.
Contributing factors to eye strain
With modern life meaning we often spend much of our time looking at screens, it’s no surprise that one of the main contributing factors leading to eye strain is concentrating the eyes on something for too long. It could also be caused by the following:
- Looking at a computer or digital screen for a long period
- Activities that require a lot of focus, such as driving, sewing, etc.
- Stress
- Tiredness
- Not wearing the right prescription glasses/contact lenses
- Uncontrolled or undiagnosed health conditions e.g. Diabetes
- Straining to see in darker/dim lighting
- Exposure to bright lights
How to reduce eye strain
Below, we’ll guide you through some tips for avoiding eye strain, and these can be as simple as adjusting some of your daily habits.
1. Use the 20-20-20 rule for screen time
The 20-20-20 rule is recommended for anyone who does concentrated work, including screen users. This simply means you should schedule small breaks away from whatever you’re looking at (e.g. your screen) every 20 minutes to focus your eyes on something 20 feet away for a minimum of 20 seconds. This allows the eye muscles to relax at regular intervals, which can reduce the likelihood of eye strain.
2. Adjust screen-related habits
With screen habits being one of the most common contributing factors to eye strain, it can also be a good idea to adjust your screen-related habits. Whether you spend a lot of time looking at a large computer monitor or a smaller phone screen, some of the suggestions below can help:
- Reducing screen glare (i.e. with an anti-glare screen)
- Ensuring the screen isn’t too close to the eyes
- Making use of “dark mode” on your devices
- Using modern LED screens if possible – These provide better brightness control, reduced flicker and blue light filtering options, reducing the likelihood of eye strain
3. Keep eyes moist by using lubricating eye drops
Keeping the eyes from drying out can help avoid the symptoms of eye strain, which can often be caused by concentrating and blinking less often. Lubricating eye drops can help the eyes stay healthy and moist. For instance, Théa’s Thealoz Duo is a preservative-free dry eye drop that can provide rapid and long-lasting relief and protection1 for dry, gritty and sore eyes.
4. Take breaks when driving or doing something that requires you to be focused
For any task that requires concentration and focus from your eyes, such as driving, looking at a screen or sewing, it’s important to regularly look away and focus your eyes on a distant object instead. You could look out of a window or into the distance to relax the eye muscles.
5. Exercise eyes
Blink exercises are recommended to help improve symptoms of eye strain. Proven as an effective way to increase lipid spread and promote even distribution of the tear film2, blinking exercises can be practised multiple times a day from anywhere. These exercises can include intentionally blinking and squeezing.
If you have been diagnosed with an eye muscle problem, be sure to follow the exercises and advice of your eye care professional.
6. Wear your glasses or contact lenses as prescribed
If an eye care professional has advised that you should be wearing glasses or contact lenses, these should be worn as directed. Otherwise, you could experience blurred vision or the muscles in your eyes may become overworked, tired or sore. Wearing an incorrect prescription can also lead to these problems.
7. Book an eye test
Regular eye tests are essential for maintaining clear, comfortable vision by making sure you are wearing the correct glasses or contact lenses, if needed, to help avoid eye strain. During an examination, the optometrist will also check the health of your eyes and look for signs of other issues that could contribute towards eye strain.
Under the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992, all employees using Visual Display Units (VDUs or computer monitors) should be provided with an eye examination, funded by their employer.3 This ensures that employees can take care of their eye health and helps avoid eye strain from screen use at work.
When to speak to a professional about eye strain
Experiencing persistent or new symptoms of eye strain that don’t improve after resting the eyes? Speak to an eye care professional for advice and support.
Maintaining good habits and being consistent with your eye care routine can reduce the effects of eye strain and prevent it from causing discomfort that disrupts your day-to-day.
If you’re worried about your eyes, we always recommend seeing an eye care professional.
References:
1. Schmidl D, Schmetterer L, Witkowska KJ, Unterhuber A, dos Santos VA, Kaya S, Nepp J, Baar C, Rosner P, Werkmeister RM, Garhofer G. Tear film thickness after treatment with artificial tears in patients with moderate dry eye disease. Cornea. 2015 Apr;34(4):421-6.
2. Arita R, Fukuoka S, Matsumoto R, Kaido M. Effects of blinking exercises on palpebral fissure height and tear film parameters. Ocul Surf. 2025 Apr;36:237-243.
3. The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1992/2792/contents