The Eye Clinic5 min read
Most of us spend hours a day looking at screens, and by evening our eyes can feel tired, dry and strained. There's a lot of advice out there — some of it useful, some of it marketing. Here's what the evidence actually says.
Fiction: screens permanently damage your eyes
Long screen sessions can leave your eyes feeling tired and sore — that's real. But there's no good evidence that normal screen use permanently damages the eyes of adults. The discomfort is usually 'digital eye strain': a mix of focusing effort, glare, and blinking far less than we should when we're concentrating.
In other words, screens make your eyes feel bad in the moment, but they're not quietly harming them in the way many people fear.
Fact: children are a different story
For children, the picture is more nuanced. More time on near work and screens — and less time outdoors — is linked to a rise in short-sightedness (myopia). It's why time outside and sensible limits on close work matter for kids, and why myopia is worth managing early rather than just topping up glasses each year.
If your child is sitting close to screens, squinting, or getting a stronger prescription each year, it's worth a conversation about myopia management.
What actually helps tired eyes
The simplest, best-evidenced tip is the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, look at something about 20 feet (6 metres) away for around 20 seconds. It relaxes your focusing muscles and prompts you to blink. Consciously blinking, keeping screens at arm's length and slightly below eye level, and reducing glare all help too.
If your eyes are persistently dry, gritty or sore, that may be dry eye rather than simple strain — and that's very treatable.
And blue-light glasses?
The current evidence doesn't show that blue-light-filtering glasses meaningfully reduce eye strain or protect the eyes. If you find them comfortable there's no harm in wearing them — but they're not a substitute for regular breaks, good lighting and, if you need it, the right prescription.