Digital eye strain: what it is and what may help

Symptoms

The American Optometric Association lists the most common symptoms as eyestrain, headaches, blurred vision, dry eyes, and neck and shoulder pain. Sheppard and Wolffsohn’s 2018 review sorts them into two groups: strain on focusing and on keeping both eyes aligned, and symptoms on the eye’s surface linked to dry eye.

The 2023 TFOS report defines digital eye strain as the development or worsening of recurring eye symptoms or signs related specifically to viewing a digital screen. Reported rates run as high as 97%, partly because there is no agreed way to diagnose it, and questionnaires can’t easily separate screen symptoms from those of any close work.

Causes

The TFOS report names the main mechanisms as reduced blink rate and completeness, an uncorrected or partly corrected prescription, problems with how the eyes work together, the mental demand of the task, and the screen’s position, size, brightness and glare compared with paper.

Blinking is a large part of it. Focused work cuts blinking well below its resting rate of about 17 a minute (Bentivoglio, 1997), and more of the blinks at a screen stop short of closing (Chu, Rosenfield and Portello, 2014). The AOA adds poor lighting, glare, the wrong viewing distance and posture, and says people who spend two or more hours at a time at a screen every day are most at risk.

Blue light isn’t on the list. The American Academy of Ophthalmology says the symptoms come from how people use their screens, not from anything coming from the screens.

What may ease it

The TFOS report is frank that no approach is well established yet. It advises a full correction of your prescription for the distances you work at, and says that better blinking, a better workspace and regular breaks may help. Blue-light blocking doesn’t appear to be effective.

The trials so far point the same way and share a limit. Reminders to follow the 20-20-20 rule eased symptoms over two weeks (Talens-Estarelles, 2023), a blink cue raised blink rate and eased symptoms more than a placebo (Nosch, 2015), and a squeeze blink exercise eased dry eye symptoms (Wolffsohn, 2025). In the break and exercise studies, the benefit lasted only while people kept it up. Not everything works: one study found that 20-second breaks during a 40-minute task made no difference (Johnson and Rosenfield, 2023).

How long it lasts, and when to see a doctor

Symptoms are typically short-lived, though they can be frequent and persistent (Sheppard and Wolffsohn, 2018). The AOA says many ease after you stop using the screen, that some people keep blurred distance vision for a while afterwards, and that if nothing changes, the symptoms tend to come back with the next long session. The AAO says screen use doesn’t cause permanent damage. No study gives a set number of hours for recovery.

See an optometrist or eye doctor if symptoms continue after you’ve changed how you work, if your eyes are often red, blurry or watery, sensitive to light or painful (AAO), or if your vision changes. An eye examination can check whether your glasses suit your screen distance and look for dry eye or problems with focusing and eye coordination.