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In today’s digital age, our lifestyle has become completely focused on the screen, where from waking up in the morning till sleeping at night, our eyes remain glued to the screen of smartphone, laptop or TV. Apart from this, students and working people are forced to read books or work on computers for long hours. But have you ever noticed that as soon as you read a book or stare at the mobile screen for a while, a sharp and unbearable headache starts on your forehead or around the eyes? Most of the people ignore this common problem considering it as work stress, fatigue or migraine pain, but eye experts say that behind it there may be a hidden and very common visual defect, which in medical language is called ‘Hyperopia’ or farsightedness. In this condition, the person can see distant things clearly, but to focus on nearby things, there is excessive strain on the eye muscles, which causes severe headache.
Hyperopia is a refractive error in which the eyeball is slightly smaller than normal or the curvature of the cornea is less, due to which the incoming light rays form a focal point behind the retina instead of focusing directly on the retina. When a person looks away from his normal vision, the eyes work without much effort, but as soon as he looks at an object closer—such as a handheld mobile phone, tablet, or reading book—the eye lens and ciliary muscles have to contract and strain harder to clear the image. This is called accommodation. When these eye muscles remain under constant tension for a long time, the eyes start feeling heavy, tired, blurred and severe headache occurs in the forehead or temple area. This is why headache after prolonged use of digital screens or books is considered to be one of the most prominent and early symptoms of hyperopia.
Apart from headache, people suffering from hyperopia also experience many other physical and visual signs, which are very important to be identified in time. The most common symptom is constant burning, dryness or stinging sensation in the eyes, which is also called digital eye strain. Apart from this, when after reading something on mobile or in a book for a long time, you suddenly look away from your eyes and look at some distant object, then things appear blurry for a few moments. Many times patients also complain of watery eyes or they try to read by keeping the book too far away from their eyes so that it becomes easier to focus. If children have this problem, they often shy away from studies because they feel pain in the eyes and dizziness when they study for a long time. If any of these symptoms persist with you, then instead of dismissing it as normal fatigue, you should get your eyes thoroughly examined by a qualified eye specialist.
If you also often face the problem of headache while using mobile or reading a book, then you can protect the health of your eyes by adopting some easy and scientific habits. First, follow the ’20-20-20 rule’ after every 20 minutes of continuous screen time or studying—that is, every 20 minutes, look away from the screen and look at an object at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds, which helps the eye muscles relax. Apart from this, while using mobile or laptop, there should be sufficient light in the room and the brightness of the screen should be balanced according to the surrounding environment. Get your eyes checked regularly by a good eye doctor and if the doctor has advised you to wear spectacles or reading glasses, use them regularly. Wearing the right lenses or glasses with power on time will not only relieve the strain on your eyes, but will also get rid of the painful headache that occurs while using mobile or reading books.