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Experiencing more headaches during the lockdown? THIS could be the reason
Are you suffering from headaches of late? Then eye strain and dry eyes could be the reason as we are using laptops and mobiles more.
Our mental health has been going for a toss during this Coronavirus led lockdown. And not just mental health, it is also impacting our other organs as well. We have been self-quarantining to flatten the COVID-19 spread and it has led working from our couch, spending more than usual time over phones, more small-screen texting, more browsing of social media, web series and FaceTiming. But did you know increased screentime can also increase dry eye syndrome and headaches?
Kathleen Digre, chief of the division of headache and neuro-ophthalmology at the John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah, in an interview with Allure revealed that people are experiencing more headaches now as we operating devices more than ever. If you are having eye symptoms and headaches lately that's mainly because of the increased screen time. When we read or browse on our cellphones or computers, we hardly blink. Normally, we blink more but while we look at screens the blink rates go down thus leading to dry eyes.
The medical term for eye strain is asthenopia and red flags of ocular fatigue, tired eyes, blurry vision, gritty eyelids and headaches among others. For the unversed, when the eye muscles become fatigued, we develop headaches.
How can eye strain lead to headaches?
Strained eyes and dry eyes can trigger headaches. Digre said, "If your eyes become dry or painful, it sends a pain signal to your brain and also to the same area of your brain that deals with migraine headaches." If you are getting a lot of head pain, then you may be more visually sensitive, especially to blue lights that emit from devices. Aside from the head pain, people may also feel dizziness. She revealed that after long periods of eye strain and then suddenly looking up can give you transient dizziness. Another reason for the headaches could be uncorrected myopia and hypermetropia.
How to keep eyes healthy?
1. If you are experiencing too much dry eyes then you should get them checked from an opthalmologist and the doctor may prescribe you some eye drops. Check out this article to know home remedies to deal with dry eyes.
2. Did you know about the pencil pushup technique? In the same, you have to hold a pencil in front of the eyes at arm's length. Follow it as you draw it slowly closer to your nose. You can use a pencil or your thumb and try to do this in and out exercise for 50-60 times a day. This exercise will help you to straight the convergence.
3. Take more breaks. Make sure to take a break every 30 or 45 minutes.
