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Medical Author:

Andrew A. Dahl, MD, FACS

Andrew A. Dahl, MD, FACS

Andrew A. Dahl, MD, is a board-certified ophthalmologist. Dr. Dahl's educational background includes a BA with Honors and Distinction from Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, and an MD from Cornell University, where he was selected for Alpha Omega Alpha, the national medical honor society. He had an internal medical internship at the New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center.

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Medical Editor:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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In this Article

• What is eye strain?
• What causes eye strain?
• What are the symptoms of eye strain?
• What are the signs of eye strain?
• How is eye strain diagnosed?
• What is the treatment for eye strain?
• Can eye strain be prevented?
• Eye Strain At A Glance
• Find a local Eye Doctor in your town
• Eye Strain Index

The medical term for eye strain is asthenopia. The symptoms of ocular fatigue, tired eyes, blurring, headaches, and occasionally doubling of the vision are brought on by concentrated use of the eyes for visual tasks. Some people, while concentrating on a visually intense task such as reading fine print, using the computer for hours at a time, or trying to see in the dark, unconsciously clench the muscles of their eyelids, face, temples, and jaws and develop discomfort or pain from use of those muscles. This may lead to a vicious cycle of tensing those muscles further and causing more distress. Other people attempting to do similar visual tasks may have no symptoms at all.

Common precipitating factors for the onset of eye strain include extended use of a computer or video monitor, straining to see in very dim light, and exposure to extreme brightness or glare. Many people will blink less than normal when performing extended visual tasks. This decreased blinking may lead to dryness of the ocular surface and symptoms of dry eyes.

Refractive errors (a need for glasses for distance or near vision, or both) may produce the symptoms of eye strain. People who require glasses, however, often do not develop asthenopia even when they fail to wear their glasses.

The inability to make both eyes work together in a binocular fashion may also generate the symptoms of eye strain. However, most individuals who have limited or no binocular vision have no such symptoms.

In people who already have headaches or blurring of vision due to eye strain, symptoms may be worsened by an underlying eye problem such as an eye muscle imbalance or a need for glasses for the correction of myopia, hyperopia, or astigmatism. In those who already have eye strain, not getting enough sleep, certain medications, being under stress, or being fatigued can also make those symptoms worse.