Q: As my job requires more computer work, I am getting more headaches by the end of the day. Could my vision be causing this?
A: For so many people today, the work day is primarily staring at computer screens. We were not “designed” to focus on near work all day, and although our eye muscles are very strong, this prolonged use seems to cause problems for many people.
The most common symptoms can include eyestrain, dry eyes, neck and shoulder stiffness, and various levels of headache pain. Typically, these develop during the work day, and are completely gone the next morning. But the good news is that while your vision can be a big factor, we do have lenses that help many such patients.
Thorough eye examination can find if your eyes are focusing and aligning accurately for near vision work. Many people have normal eye alignment for distance vision, but their eyes are not able to converge, or turn inward, to align precisely for close work. And commonly, those people develop many symptoms from the extra “work” their eyes do trying to keep single clear vision at work.
If this near point alignment disorder is diagnosed, we can prescribe “prismatic” lenses to help your eyes align accurately and easily for near vision tasks. These prism lenses look just like regular lenses in glasses, but in addition to making vision sharper, they reduce the convergence demand on your eyes. Essentially, your eyewear can do some of the alignment, and focusing, for your eyes! Your glasses can do a lot of the “work” your eyes have been struggling to handle. Commonly, this is the first time these patients have had prism lenses prescribed, and they find immediate relief at work.
The key for you is to tell your eye doctor about your headaches and other symptoms, even though you may not have thought your vision was involved. A few fairly simple vision tests can identify any eye alignment deficiencies, and can specify the type of prismatic correction that should be incorporated into your eyeglass prescription. I will add that in our clinic, we often find the vision prescription in patient’s current glasses to be incorrect. Whether the actual powers are off, or the anatomical measurements to precisely align the lens optical centers with the patient’s vision centers are off, the result can be the same. Too often today, patients are getting inaccurate eyewear but have no idea.
While most every one over the age of 40 has some difficulties focusing at near, as our vision demands at work have increased, we are finding more people…younger people too….with these vision caused problems, but without blurry vision. Our vision system contributes to much of our comfort and health, in many ways you may not have realized.