At least once a week, I get a headache. It starts just behind my left eye and gradually spreads further into my brain. By the end of the day, my whole head is fuzzing. And then I close my laptop, head outside, and before too long, the throb has gone.

I wear prescription sunglasses whenever I leave the house and always have specs on me for reading, watching or doing anything other than laptop work. After all, I can see my screen just fine. But I am starting to wonder if these headaches are eye strain-induced after all.

It wasn’t so much of an issue pre-pandemic, when I worked on a big computer screen and had plenty of distractions around me in the office. But then Covid happened, and we went from naturally taking screen breaks – shouting across the office, people-watching/catching up at the coffee machine – to remaining glued to our laptops.  

I always thought that eye strain was caused by reading in a darkened room or screwing up your face to see things that are far away. But Specsavers optometrist Dr Nigel Best tells Stylist that our eyes become strained “if we look at something for a long period of time. Eye strain, also known as asthenopia, can lead to muscle contraction and tension behind the eyes, sometimes leading to a headache.” 

For some time, I believed my headaches were probably stress related. But given that these headaches happen after working intensely for a few hours, it’s more likely to be strain-related (although the two are probably often linked – a stressful day will probably involve spending more time than usual glued to a screen, leading to eye-strain).

While putting excessive strain on any part of the body isn’t a good idea, the good news is that eye strain doesn’t lead to permanent eye damage. If you act promptly, Dr Best says that it can be easily alleviated. The best method for avoiding it? The 20:20:20 rule.

That means taking a 20-second break every 20 minutes to look at something 20 feet away. Given what we know about sedentary living and the benefits of taking regular physical breaks from sitting down, you might want to combine taking an eye rest with simply getting up and walking round – so long as you’re not glued to your phone when you move. 

Dr Best explains that while 20:20:20 rule will help the eye muscles to relax, it’s vital to take further action if your eye strain pain persists. “It’s important to book an eye test so that optometrists can check the health of your eyes and look for signs of other medical conditions.” 

If you’ve ever had a check-up, you’ll be familiar with the process of having a tiny puff of air blown onto your eyeball or the optometrist shining a bright light into the back of your socket. Those checks aren’t to do with your eyesight but rather your overall eye and head health – which is why it’s so important to have check-ups even if you don’t have deteriorating eyesight.

“There’s a misconception that regular eye tests are only for people who have noticed a change in their sight, but that’s just a small part of why they are so important,” stresses Dr Best. “More than checking your vision, an eye test is an overall eye health check, inside and out.”

And those doctors can see a lot more than eye-related issues. “Your eyes can even indicate signs of general health problems like hypertension and diabetes.” And very rarely, eye tests can pick up really serious things such as brain tumours. 

So yes, it’s hugely important to have your eyes checked – especially if you’re experiencing eye strain and headaches that don’t get better when following the 20:20:20 rule.

Images: Getty