Eyestrain Headaches

Headaches and eyestrain – Introduction -

There are different causes and reasons for headaches. Eyestrain is one of the most common causes of headaches, especially at work places. These headaches can be commonly seen in people who are doing any work involving close contact with the eyes, especially, those who work in front of the computers.

Symptoms of eyestrain headaches -

The headache can be a mild, throbbing one or a sharp, stabbing pain and can be seen in one part of the head or the whole head area. The pain may gradually lead to nausea, vomiting, and may also affect the vision.

Eyestrain can be seen in case of tension headaches and migraine too. In a tension headache, pain can be felt in any part of the head and a feeling of tightness can be experienced around the eye area. In migraine headaches, eyestrain can take different forms like flashing of lights across the eyes, blurred vision, blind spots in the eyes.

The typical symptoms of eyestrain can be – feeling of tightness, itching and /or irritation in or around the eye area, difficulty in focusing on the objects that are at a distance after one focuses on the nearby objects (or even the other way round), blurring of vision for a temporary period, headaches, dizziness and lightheadedness.

Treatment of eyestrains and eyestrain headaches -

If a headache is of a mild nature and not a very serious one, it will disappear by itself within a few minutes or hours. But if it persists, mild painkillers like paracetamol, aspirin or ibuprofen can be taken. However, it is advisable to consult a doctor and also read the label carefully before consuming any pain killers. If a headache is experienced due to eyestrain, taking a break from the work, especially if the work involves intense use of the eyes, and stretching the muscles or a light massage of the face, neck and head muscles would help.

If in case, the headache persists for the next couple of days or becomes worse even after taking the pain killers, if there is blurring of vision, nausea, vomiting, sharp pain in the head or temples, disturbance in the vision, frequent headaches accompanied by loss of memory, tiredness, a health care professional should be visited at the earliest.

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