Headaches · tired eyes · screens
Headaches from screens: eye strain, or your eyes?
A headache across the brow by three o’clock, eyes that ache, blur when you look up. Sometimes it’s your eyes; sometimes it’s the desk. A forty-five-minute test tells you which, and the fix for the eye version is usually a cheap one.
The three eye causes
A small uncorrected prescription — long sight or astigmatism you’ve never needed glasses for, that the focusing muscle has been quietly compensating for. Eight hours of screen and it gives up. The commonest cause, and a pair of screen glasses fixes it. Focusing fatigue — from the late thirties on, the eye’s focusing muscle tires. Anti-fatigue lenses (single vision with a small boost) or, for varifocal wearers, an occupational lens for the desk. Dry eye — screens halve your blink rate; the tear film breaks up; the eyes ache and burn. The 60-second check.
The desk causes
Screen too high (you should look slightly down), too close (arm’s length), brightness far above the room, and no breaks. The 20-20-20 rule — every twenty minutes, look twenty feet away for twenty seconds — is old and it works.
When it isn’t your eyes
Headaches with nausea, visual zigzags that move, or one-sided throbbing are migraine. Headaches that wake you or are worse lying down need your GP. We’ll say if the eyes are clear and it’s one of those.
What to book
The Gold examination. Say “screens and headaches” when you book and the test is steered that way.
The three types of dry eye, and what we do for each
Most people are told “you’ve got dry eyes” and handed drops. But there are three different causes, and each needs something different. Most people have a mix.
Blocked oil glands: meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD)
In one large study, 86% of people with dry eye had signs of this. Along the edge of your eyelids are tiny glands, about 30 in the top lid and 25 in the bottom, that put a thin layer of oil on your tears. When they block, your tears dry up in seconds, however much water your eyes make. It feels gritty, burning and tired, often worse on screens or by evening. Drops help for an hour, because they don’t unblock the glands.
What we do: photograph your glands so you can see them, warm and clear them in clinic, clean the lid edge, and use IPL or light therapy where it helps. Then we give you a simple routine for home.
Not enough tears
Your eyes don’t make enough of the watery part of tears. This is more common with age, some medicines, the menopause, and conditions like Sjögren’s.
What we do: measure your tear level, choose the right drops for you, and use tiny plugs to keep your own tears in where they help. We’ll write to your GP if something needs checking.
Inflamed eyelids: blepharitis, often with tiny mites called Demodex
Crusty, itchy, red lid edges, often worse in the morning.
What we do: deep-clean the lid edge in clinic, treat the mites, and show you how to keep the lids clean at home.
Not sure which one you have? That’s what the assessment is for. We look at your glands, tears and lids, and tell you which type, or which mix.
Guides on this
- How much is an eye test? Every price, honestlyAnywhere between nothing and £195, depending on what you’d like looked at. Here’s what each level includes, so you can choose the right one.
- NHS eye test vs private: what the £55 actually buysThe NHS test isn’t a cut-down version. At an independent it’s the same optometrist, the same room and most of the same checks. The differenc
- What is an OCT scan, and do I need one?A photograph of the back of your eye shows the surface. An OCT scan shows what’s underneath, layer by layer. That’s where glaucoma and macul
- How often should I have an eye test?Every two years is the standard answer and it’s right for most people. The exceptions matter more than the rule.
- What happens at an eye test — forty-five minutes, step by stepIf it’s been years, or you’ve only ever had a short one, here’s the whole forty-five minutes — so nothing’s a surprise.
- Free eye tests: who qualifies in 2026About half of adults qualify and a good few don’t know it. The list, in one place, for this year.
- Glaucoma: the test that finds it years earlyGlaucoma is the one that has no symptoms. By the time you notice anything, the sight that’s gone doesn’t come back. It’s found at eye tests,
- Macular degeneration: what you can actually do this yearThere are two kinds and they need opposite responses. The dry kind is slow, and there are things that slow it further. The wet kind is fast
- Cataracts: when to have surgery, and what to expect afterNearly everyone who lives long enough gets a cataract. The operation is one of the safest and commonest in medicine. The only real question
- Diabetes and your eyes: what the yearly check looks forDiabetes damages the small vessels at the back of the eye without any symptoms until late. You’re entitled to two checks a year — the screen
Five clinics across Greater Manchester, Cheshire & West Yorkshire
Every Book button on this page comes here. Choose your practice — the number appears on the one you pick.
Book a Dry Eye Assessment — Cheadle 0161 428 3717
Book a Dry Eye Assessment — Middleton 0161 653 0771
Book a Dry Eye Assessment — Heald Green 0161 437 3400
Book a Dry Eye Assessment — Winsford 01606 599030
Book a Dry Eye Assessment — Heckmondwike 01924 403617
Gland Scan: £15 with any eye examination (included in our Gold eye examination).