Screens shouldn't leave your eyes this tired
Headaches by mid-afternoon, blurry text on screen, dry or gritty eyes by evening — it's called digital eye strain, it's extremely common, and it's usually very treatable.
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Does this sound familiar?
If you spend most of your day on a screen, these are the symptoms we hear about most.
A simple habit that genuinely helps
Alongside anything we can do at an eye test, this one costs nothing and takes seconds — worth starting today regardless.
Every 20 minutes, look at something roughly 20 feet away for 20 seconds. It gives your focusing muscles a genuine break and helps reset your blink rate — both of which drop noticeably during screen work.
Why screens are harder on your eyes
- You blink less. Screen focus roughly halves your natural blink rate, which is the main reason eyes dry out during the day.
- Screen distance sits in an awkward zone. Not quite reading distance, not quite far away — this is exactly the range where even a small uncorrected prescription becomes noticeable.
- Glare and poor lighting make your eyes work harder. Overhead fluorescents, window glare, and screens set too bright all add strain your eyes have to compensate for all day.
- It compounds with age. From the mid-30s onwards, the eye's focusing flexibility naturally starts to reduce — screen work is often what makes people notice it first.
What we can actually do about it
A proper eye test
Digital eye strain often has an uncorrected — or slightly out of date — prescription sitting underneath it. A test tells us whether that's part of what you're feeling, and whether your eyes are healthy otherwise.
Lenses built for screen distance
Standard glasses are usually optimised for distance, not the 50-70cm zone most screens sit at. Our office/indoor lenses are designed specifically for that range, giving a wider comfortable zone for monitor, keyboard, and paperwork all at once — without the strain of constantly refocusing.
Anti-reflective coating
Cuts down glare from screens and overhead lighting reflecting off your lenses — a small change that a lot of screen-heavy patients notice immediately.
Worth knowing: if you use a screen regularly for work, UK employers are required to offer you an eye test under Display Screen Equipment regulations, and to contribute toward glasses if you need them specifically for screen use. It's worth checking with your employer before booking — ask us and we can point you in the right direction.
Download: Your Right to a Free Eye Test for Screen-Based WorkA short, fully-referenced guide with links to the official UK government sources — good to read yourself or hand to your employer.
Give your eyes a proper look
A full eye test takes the guesswork out of it — book in whenever suits.
Book an eye testOr call us on 01422 372755