Eye strain is a frequent symptom that develops when your eyes become fatigued as a result of prolonged use, such as driving long distances or staring at computer screens and other digital devices and can be aggravating. However, it is usually not significant and goes away as you rest your eyes or take other measures to alleviate your eye discomfort. Signs and symptoms of eyestrain can sometimes indicate an underlying eye condition that requires treatment.
Headaches are most commonly triggered by eyestrain and with vision problems. Overuse of the muscles involved in vision focus can cause eye strain and, as a result, headaches.
Eye strain is also attributed to the following symptoms:
- Achy Eyes
- Overly wet or dry eyes
- temporary double or blurred vision
- Difficulties concentrating
- Floaters
- neck, shoulder, or back discomfort
- difficulty keeping your eyes awake
However, it does not imply that your eyes are hurt or damaged. When your eyes are working too hard, your eye muscles may contract excessively. These contractions can cause a headache caused by eye strain. These headaches frequently produce pain and discomfort behind your eyes which feel like happening in the head.
After concentrating on a task for an extended period of time, you may develop an eye strain headache. Fortunately, simply closing your eyes can provide some relief. It also helps to wear right prescription glasses or contact lenses.
But does that mean that eye strain can cause floaters?
Eye floaters are distortions in your eyesight. They may appear to you as black or grey specks, strings, or cobwebs that move about as you move your eyes and dart away when you look at them directly. The majority of them are produced by age-related changes in the jelly-like substance (vitreous) inside your eyes. Microscopic fibres in the vitreous clump together and form small shadows on your retina. It is the shadows you see.
So, if we go back to our question, it isn’t the only cause of floaters and the causes can be age related as well. When under stress, the human body creates a hormone called adrenaline. Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, causes your pupils to dilate, allowing you to see more clearly around you. Being stressed all the time causes continual dilatation of the pupils and, eventually, eye strain. Eye strain caused by stress is frequently accompanied by symptoms such as:
- Light sensitivity
- Reduced peripheral vision
- Dry eyes
- Twitching of the pupils
Although stress does not cause eye floaters, it might exacerbate an already existing condition. Experiencing the above symptoms in addition to existing eye floaters will give the impression that your eye floaters have intensified. In truth, the foregoing symptoms are simply contributing to the underlying issue, making your eye floaters more obvious.
