Why Eyes Feel Heavy And Tired All The Time? Eye Fatigue Explained

Why do your eyes feel heavy and tired all the time? This feeling has been named differently by science, such as eye fatigue and eye strain. When you have it, you consistently experience ocular fatigue and feel exhausted, which affects your work, focus, and also reduces productivity.

Various factors contribute to eye fatigue. Like, reading on screen, bright or dim light, blinking eyes less frequently, and overuse of the eyes without a break. 

The good news is, you don’t need to worry about it as it’s not a serious concern. Just by making changes to your environment, routine, and workspace, you can get rid of the eyestrain. We’ll teach you how to do that in this article.

Main Causes That Your Eyes Feel Heavy And Tired All The Time

The eyes feel heavy and tired all the time, usually because of the bright or dim lighting, prolonged screen time, reading on screens, writing, driving, and many other reasons.

Bright or Dim Lighting

Excessively bright or dim lighting both are harmful to your eyes. The bright lights strain the eyes by making them work hard, while the dim lighting forces the eyes to adjust constantly, leading to tiredness and heaviness.

Prolonged Screen Time

If you spend hours sitting in front of your computers or using your phones or consoles, it can cause eye strain. This type of eye strain is also called computer vision syndrome. It’s the reason for approximately 10 million annual eye doctor visits.

Reading

Reading on a screen requires constant focus, and that puts pressure on your eyes. The tiny fonts and the glare of the screen make it worse, leading to weary eyes, blurred vision and headaches.

Writing

Writing requires long periods of close-up focus, and eye muscles stay tense without resting. That causes heaviness and difficulty refocusing at distances. When you write on a computer, that’s even worse, as the glare is also added to it.

Driving

Driving shifts your eye focus between the road, the mirror and the dashboard. The bright headlights or the dim conditions add extra strain to your eyes. When you drive for a long time and also don’t blink, it leads to dryness in the eyes.

Small Text On Digital Devices

If you’re used to reading text messages on devices with too small fonts, then your eyes need to strain more to see them. If you do so for a long time, it leads to eye fatigue.

Reduced Blinking

Normally, a person blinks 18 times per minute, which refreshes the eyes. Due to screens, the blinking has dropped by half, causing dryness, itchiness, burning and weary eyes.

Symptoms Of Eye Strain

These are the common symptoms of eye strain.

• Blurred or double sight
• Eye soreness or irritation
• Trouble keeping focus
• Light sensitivity increases
• Eyes feel dry or watery
• Neck, back, or shoulder pain

How To Fix Heavy And Tired Eyes?

Luckily, fixing eye fatigue can be done by just making some changes to your workspace, environment, and lifestyle. 

1. Set Up Your Screen Right

Adjust your computer screen by following these steps:

• Position your screen in a way that it’s 20 to 26 inches away from you and slightly above eye level.
• Wipe off dust and smudges weekly to stop glare.
• Ensure your screen is tiltable so you can adjust it to your eye comfort
• If needed, add an anti-glare cover on the screen if the reflections are causing eye strain

2. Improve The Workspace

Enhance the environment of your workspace, including its lighting, chair, paper and also the brightness of the screen.

• Dim room lights to ease screen glare.
• Use a cozy, supportive chair.
• Keep papers on a stand by your screen.
• Adjust the brightness of your screen to match the room’s light

3. Build Good Screen Habits

Adapt to these healthy screen habits.

• Every 20 minutes, look 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
• Place a “blink more” note near your screen.
• Don’t forget to take a 15-minute break after working for 2 hours

4. Care for Your Eyes

Take good care of your eyes by following these steps:

• When your eyes are fatigued, rest them with a warm, moist cloth.
• If your eyes are dry or itching, use eye drops.
• To prevent the air from drying out, turn on a humidifier.
• Sometimes, wear glasses rather than contacts.
• Get eye checkups for special screen glasses.

Asli Tarcan Clinic: Expert Care for Youthful, Bright Eyes

Why your eyes feel heavy and tired all the time? It could be due to many reasons, such as the prolonged use of the screen, bright or dim lights, reduced eye blinking, writing, reading on the screen, reading tiny texts or driving for a longer time.

Fixing eye fatigue is easy if you’re ready to make some changes to your lifestyle, computer screen and the workspace. Like, setting up your screen right, improving your workspace, building good screen habits, and caring for your eyes.

Do you have saggy eyelids, extra fat, or too loose skin around your eyes? Contact Asli Tarcan Clinic for advanced Blepharoplasty and brow lift surgeries to fix your eye appearance and give you a youthful-looking face.

How common is eye strain?

Eye strain is quite common, and almost 10 million visits every single year to the eye doctors are because of it.

Why do my eyes feel tired and heavy all the time?

Excessive screen time, poor lighting, reduced blinking, or driving could lead to heavy eyes.

How do I stop tired eyes?

You can stop tired eyes by sitting 20 to 26 inches away from your screen, adjusting the brightness to your room’s light, blinking often, and taking breaks every 2 hours.