Simple Eye Problems Can Cause Headaches

There are few things as frustrating and painful as a bad headache. Not only do they cause obvious discomfort, but if left untreated they can actually impede how people live their daily lives.

Some of the most common causes of headaches are actually related to your eyes. More often than not, when a headache is eye-related, it’s the result the eye being overworked. This eyestrain can be caused by squinting in an attempt to see better or even just staring a computer screen all day. But there’s more to eyestrain than just focusing too hard. Both the lens and your cornea work in tandem to help focus images on the eye’s retina, and sometimes this mechanism gets thrown off, which forces certain muscles to work harder than they should. In essence, this is the direct cause of eyestrain. Fear not, however, prescription glasses or contact lenses can help not only correct your vision issues, but eliminate those pesky headaches.

Other than standard eyestrain, there are three other primary reasons for eye-related headaches: Astigmatism, Hyperopia and Presbyopia. Astigmatism is when a person’s cornea is not a regular shape, which can cause objects to appear blurry at certain angles. And though it isn’t a serious issue, it can be meddlesome. This, along with Hyperopia (farsightedness), can be fixed with prescription glasses. Presbyopia is another common eye condition that often causes headaches. This is when the eye’s lens gets harder and less flexible over time making it much harder to quickly change focus from one object to another. It also can make it harder to focus on items closer to the eye.

It’s important to remember that if you are suffering headaches on a regular basis, that a simple eye exam and corrective lenses might be all it takes to lessen your headaches. For more information about what other eye conditions could cause headaches, please read “Headache and eye problems” by the Better Health Channel.