Working long hours staring at a computer screen, holding a welding torch and joining pieces of metal together for an entire shift, driving, the list goes on.
These are only a couple of activities that can produce a biting migraine as a result of a hard day’s work.
Of course, a headache doesn’t necessarily mean a migraine, but there is definitely a link between eye strain and a pain in your head – whether it’s your entire head, or just a part of it.
In this article, we’re going to talk about how poor eyesight can produce headaches and how vision therapy can not only fix your eyesight – but also help with the headaches.
Here’s the deal.
What Causes Tension Headaches?
Headaches are generally split into two different categories – migraines and tension headaches.
While the number of individuals with strong headaches or migraines has been rather steady over the years, floating at about 15% of the US population, the tension headaches are way more common.
Tension headaches can be caused by a wide variety of different factors. Here’s a brief list of some of the most common ones:
- Illness (or, generally, an infection)
- Lack of sleep
- Obesity
- Excessive intake of caffeine
- Dehydration
- Poor posture
- Stress
Nowadays, however, it is becoming more and more apparent that exposure to computer screens has adverse effects on our eyes (which everyone knows already), but also can produce splitting headaches.
For this reason, some folks who make computer programs decided to make some apps that can at least in part help with this ongoing and ever present issue. Modern problems call for modern solutions, indeed.
So, one of the tools you have at your disposal would be a mobile app for binocular vision, which can be quite a simple way to correct your vision while on your phone, ironically enough.
Vision therapy includes many other solutions than apps, as various versions of light therapy can be greatly beneficial for getting rid of headaches. Also, by extension, the same exercises can help with improving your sleep, as well as reducing fatigue and dizziness.
What is Vision Therapy?
The bottom line of the vision therapy works is that it corrects the often-found misalignment between two eyes that break your focus.
The effect is similar to a camera that has lenses that function well on their own, but cannot focus together. The result is a blurry image that you cannot make sharper.
Similarly, with conditions such as strabismus or convergence insufficiency, rather than individual eyes having diminished vision, the focus is slightly off, which causes blurriness.
In turn, the blurriness causes headaches.
Vision therapy is an approach to correcting vision problems such as these, that not only helps relieve the tension in your eyes, but also helps with migraines by extension.
A quick note: Mind you, not all migraines are caused by vision problems. If you have persistent migraines, seeing a health professional first is always the best course of action.
What Issues Can Vision Therapy Help With?
If you’ve ever taken a medical examination for your driver’s license, or had your eyes tested for any other reason – you’ll probably be familiar with how vision therapy works.
The idea behind this is to use computers, as well as various other contraptions and tools to help you improve your vision without having to resort to lenses, glasses, or surgery. Of course, it is not always possible to entirely exclude the necessity for surgery for some conditions, but much progress can be made with vision therapy if you pursue it for long enough.
Here are some of the poor eyesight-related issues that can be somewhat relieved by light or vision therapy:
- Poor memory
- Short attention span
- Poor balance and coordination
- Chronic fatigue
- Poor depth judgment
- Poor coordination
- Motion sickness
Depending on what your problem is, there are multiple exercises that you may be prescribed in order to help you in the best possible way.
Again, before engaging in any exercises you read off the Internet, it is strongly recommended to first consult your physician or optician, as they can tell you about the optimal treatment for your ailment.
Conclusion
Sitting in front of a screen, whether it’s for work or entertainment, has the capacity to sap your energy considerably. Worse still, it can cause significant vision problems, which can then get compounded further by headaches.
While limiting your screen time is always a good idea, finding ways to ameliorate the damage that screen does to our eyes and brains can also be of great benefit.
As a closing remark, we’d like to once again point out that speaking to your physician is always the best course of action before you undertake any treatment that you’re not familiar with or sure about.
Author bio
Travis Dillard is a business consultant and an organizational psychologist based in Arlington, Texas. Passionate about marketing, social networks, and business in general. In his spare time, he writes a lot about new business strategies and digital marketing for SEO Thugs.
