How to Reduce Eye Strain

After staring at your laptop for hours or scrolling through social media on your phone, you may sense a heavy achiness or bleary-eyed feeling creep in.

These common, uncomfortable sensations are signs of eye strain, an umbrella term for symptoms like dry or watery eyes, temporary blurry vision, eye redness, soreness and headaches. Computer vision syndrome or digital eye strain fall under this umbrella, too. But screen time isn’t the only thing that can tire your eyes.

Activities like reading, writing and needlework can also make your eyes ache, said Mika Moy, a clinical professor in the Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science at the University of California, Berkeley. It’s often the first-year law students with tons of reading assignments who visit Dr. Moy’s office with eye strain, she said.

Symptoms can be “really, really annoying,” but they’re temporary, said Dr. Avnish Deobhakta, an ophthalmologist at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai. And you don’t need to worry about eye strain leading to long-term eye damage, he added.

Why does eye strain happen?

There are several reasons for eye strain. For one, people often blink less when staring at screens or reading intently, said Dr. Dave Patel, an assistant professor of ophthalmology at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. Blinking keeps your eyes lubricated, and doing it infrequently dries them out — causing blurry vision, stinging or a gritty feeling.