Got Headaches? Get Your Eyes Checked!

An aspirin a day, or just get your eyes checked

If you were to run a couple of miles every day for a week, you might notice your legs are particularly sore come Saturday. You might even notice they’re pretty sore after that first run! You’ve been around the block enough times to know when you’ve worked your leg muscles pretty good, it’s inevitable that they’ll be a little sore. You can stretch your hamstrings and quadriceps to relieve some of the pressure, but unfortunately, not all muscles are as accessible to stretching and relief.

Most of our muscles tighten when strained, and release when relaxed, and they don’t generally lead to chronic, seemingly disparate conditions like frequent headaches; but unlike your hamstrings, if you’re overworking your eye muscles, headaches, sometimes debilitating ones, can be the unfavorable result.

Overwork, or Something Else?

Overworking and straining your eyes could be a result of reading in poor or insufficient light, reading print that is too small and without corrective lenses, continuous exposure to bright light, or simply staring at a computer screen too long. In that case, adjusting your working and reading conditions, or simply taking a break could solve your problem, but if you’re problem persists, you’ll want to make an appointment with your eye doctor.

Anytime your eyes are asked to work harder than they usually would, the strain can result in aching, tired eyes, blurred vision, and headaches. Often times headaches can be an indication that there is something more going on than simply binge-watching Netflix for eight hours straight.

What’s Causing Your Headache?

A routine eye exam will be able to identify common eye conditions that may be responsible for persistent headaches, conditions which can be easily exacerbated by the conditions we mentioned earlier: bright or dim lighting, too much time in front of a computer, etc.

These conditions can continue to get worse, causing more headaches and declining vision over time, if left untreated.

Astigmatism, in which the cornea is not properly shaped, and requires you to squint in order to focus your vision.
Hyperopia, or farsightedness.
Myopia, or nearsightedness.
Presbyopia is a condition in which the lens has become hard and inflexible with age, making it difficult to focus.

Fast Acting, Long-Lasting Relief: Eyeglasses!

First things first, if you’re experiencing frequent headaches, tiredness, aching eyes, or blurred vision, make an eye exam appointment today. If it turns out that your headaches and the strain on your eye muscles are caused by a common eye condition, your optometrist will either recommend contact lenses or eyeglasses to correct your vision and solve your problem.

If you’re already wearing contacts or glasses and you’re still suffering from frequent headaches, it may be time to step up your prescription. Just because you’re already wearing glasses, doesn’t mean your eyes aren’t working harder than they need to. You may be able to see clearly with your current prescription, but you may be asking your eyes to work overtime so you can do so.

Just like you want to wear the right shoes for running, you want to have the right prescription for seeing.

Take care of all your muscles, get your eyes checked regularly, see clearly, and be headache-free…finally!