If you regularly get headaches after a long day at the computer, reading, driving, or doing close-up work, you may have wondered whether your eyes could be part of the problem.
So, can vision problems cause headaches? In some cases, yes.
When your eyes have to work harder than they should to see clearly or stay focused, that extra effort can contribute to eye strain, fatigue, and headaches. An outdated prescription, uncorrected vision problem, or difficulty getting your eyes to work together can all play a role.
And eye strain can cause headaches even if your prescription is correct. Spending hours focused on a computer, phone, book, or other close-up task can leave your eyes feeling tired and uncomfortable and may contribute to a headache by the end of the day.
But the relationship between headaches and your eyes isn’t always straightforward. Sometimes a vision problem contributes to the headache. Other times, a condition like migraine causes both the headache and changes in vision.
Understanding the difference can help you figure out when it may be time for an eye exam and when your symptoms need additional medical attention.
The Connection Between Vision & Headaches
Seeing clearly isn’t as effortless as it feels. Your eyes are constantly focusing, adjusting to different distances, and working together to create a single, clear image. When something interferes with that process, your visual system may have to work harder.
That extra effort can contribute to:
- An eye strain headache
- Tired or aching eyes
- Blurry vision
- Difficulty concentrating
- Discomfort around the eyes
You may be more likely to notice these symptoms after spending a significant amount of time reading, working at a computer, driving, or doing detailed close-up work.
Vision Problems That Contribute to Headaches
An Uncorrected Vision Prescription
Nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism can all make it harder to see clearly. Even if you can see well enough to get through the day, you may be squinting or putting additional effort into focusing without realizing it.
Farsightedness can be especially noticeable during close-up tasks because the eyes may have to work harder to maintain clear near vision.
Astigmatism can also cause blurred or distorted vision, which may contribute to eye strain. People sometimes refer to these as astigmatism headaches, although having astigmatism doesn’t necessarily mean it is the cause of your headaches.
The same thing can happen if your prescription has changed. If you’ve started experiencing headaches from glasses that previously felt comfortable, it’s worth checking whether your prescription or the fit of your eyewear needs to be adjusted.
This doesn’t mean every headache is a sign that you need new glasses. But if headaches tend to show up after visually demanding activities, your prescription is a good place to start.
Digital Eye Strain
If your headaches seem to appear around 3 p.m. after you’ve spent most of the day staring at a computer, your eyes may be part of the equation.
Digital eye strain can cause headaches, blurry or double vision, dry or irritated eyes, difficulty concentrating, light sensitivity, and even neck and shoulder discomfort.
Screens themselves aren’t necessarily damaging your eyes. The problem is often how we use them.
When we’re focused on a screen for long periods, we tend to blink less. We also spend hours maintaining the same close focusing distance, often while dealing with glare, small text, poor lighting, or less-than-ideal posture. These factors can make eye strain worse.
Taking regular breaks, adjusting your screen setup, increasing text size, reducing glare, and making sure your vision prescription is current can all help reduce the workload on your eyes.
When Your Eyes Have Trouble Working Together
Clear vision isn’t only about whether each eye can see 20/20. Your two eyes also need to work together. Problems with eye alignment, focusing, or coordination can sometimes make activities like reading and computer work uncomfortable.
You might notice headaches, tired eyes, difficulty concentrating, words that seem harder to track, or even occasional double vision.
This is one reason a comprehensive eye exam involves more than simply asking you to read progressively smaller letters on an eye chart. We also want to understand how comfortably your visual system is functioning.
Dry Eye
When your tear film isn’t keeping the surface of your eyes comfortable, you may experience burning, grittiness, watering, fluctuating vision, or a general feeling that your eyes are tired.
Then you sit in front of a computer, blink less, and ask those already-irritated eyes to focus for another several hours. That combination can become uncomfortable.
If your headaches behind the eyes tend to occur along with burning, irritation, watering, or fluctuating blurry vision, dry eye may be one piece of the puzzle.
What About Migraines & Vision Changes?
This is where the relationship between headaches and vision gets especially interesting.
A migraine is a neurological condition, not simply a problem with the eyes. However, migraine can cause significant visual symptoms.
Some people experience migraine with aura, which may include seeing flashing lights, bright spots, zigzag patterns, or areas of missing vision. Aura typically develops over several minutes and usually lasts less than an hour.
Interestingly, a visual aura can also happen without the headache that people typically associate with migraine.
Light sensitivity is also common during migraine attacks. That overlap between migraine and vision changes can make it easy to assume something is wrong with the eyes themselves. In many cases, however, the visual disturbance associated with migraine originates in the brain rather than the eye.
New visual symptoms should still be evaluated, particularly if you’ve never experienced them before.
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How Do You Know If Your Headache Is Related to Your Eyes?
There’s no single symptom that can tell us for certain that a headache is coming from a vision problem.
However, there are some clues.
Your headaches may have a visual component if they consistently appear after reading, computer work, driving, studying, or another visually demanding activity. You may also experience blurry vision and headaches together, along with squinting, difficulty focusing, tired eyes, or aching around the eyes.
Another clue is timing. If your eyes feel fine when you wake up but become increasingly tired and uncomfortable as the day goes on, eye strain may be contributing.
The best way to know whether vision is playing a role is to have your eyes evaluated by your eye doctor.
When Headaches & Vision Changes Need Immediate Attention
Most headaches associated with eye strain aren’t an emergency.
However, a headache with vision changes that appear suddenly or are significantly different from what you normally experience deserves more attention.
Seek prompt medical care for symptoms such as:
- Sudden vision loss
- New double vision
- Severe eye pain
- Weakness or numbness
- Difficulty speaking
- Sudden severe headache
If something about your vision changes suddenly, it’s better to have it checked.
Can an Eye Exam Help With Headaches?
An eye exam can’t diagnose every cause of a headache, and not every headache will improve with a new pair of glasses. But it can help us determine whether your eyes are contributing.
During an eye exam, we can check your prescription, evaluate how your eyes focus and work together, examine the health of your eyes, and talk about when and how your headaches occur.
Sometimes the solution is as simple as updating a prescription or changing a few screen habits. Other times, your eyes look perfectly healthy, which is also useful information as you and your healthcare provider investigate other possible causes.
If you’ve been experiencing frequent headaches along with blurry vision, tired eyes, or difficulty focusing, schedule a comprehensive eye exam with us. We can take a closer look at your vision and help determine whether your eyes may be part of the headache puzzle.
