Dr Phil Kieran: My Junior Cert child is suffering from eye strain

"For your daughter, I would encourage her to continue with the screen breaks she is already taking."

My daughter is studying for the Junior Cert and is complaining of eye strain. I brought her to an optician, who said her sight is perfect. She has started to take regular screen breaks from her tablet at school. What else would you recommend?

As we spend more time on screens, eye strain is becoming increasingly common. Eye strain, or asthenopia, is a collective term for symptoms such as pulling sensations in the eyes, difficulty focusing after reading, sensitivity to light, or a tendency to fall asleep after reading.

These symptoms have several causes, and it can be helpful to address each of them individually.

To begin, as you have already done, I would recommend getting an eye test to ensure there isn’t a problem with focusing on the screen. Issues with focusing the eyes, called refractive errors, are what we address with glasses or contact lenses.

Sometimes, even mild refractive errors can mean that the muscles around and inside the eyeball have to work harder than usual. This can lead to tiredness, headaches, and sleepiness.

If this vision problem has been ruled out, the next most common eye issue with screens is dry eyes. When we look at screens, we tend to blink much less frequently. One reason might be that we tend to blink when we move our eyes. If you are staring at a relatively fixed point for extended periods of time, you are less likely to move your eye, so you blink much less.

This causes dryness in the eyes (part of eye strain), and regular use of eye drops to lubricate can help a lot.

I would encourage anyone who spends a significant amount of time looking at a screen to build breaks in to their routine and to look at things in the distance. Our eyes have evolved to function in the outdoors, where there is a lot to look at, towards the horizon. Giving them time to look into the distance can be helpful.

Lighting can also affect eye strain. Looking at a bright screen in a dark room means our eyes have to try to adapt quickly when we look away.

But looking at a screen under very bright light is difficult, too. Having the room well-lit and avoiding glare can go a long way toward reducing eye strain. Companies sell glasses that reduce blue light from screens, but the medical evidence for their efficacy is not very robust.

For your daughter, I would encourage her to continue with the screen breaks she is already taking.

An over-the-counter eye drop to increase lubrication will likely also give some relief. I recommend a preservative-free eye drop, as those with preservatives can cause an allergic-type response in some people over time.

Other than that, reducing screen time in general and spending more time outdoors is always best, but can be a bit impractical, particularly in exam years.

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