If your eyes feel tired, dry, or strained by mid-afternoon most working days, you’re evidently not alone. A 2024 study of working adults in the UK and Ireland who used digital devices for at least an hour a day for work found digital eye strain in a clear majority of respondents — worth taking seriously given how much of an ordinary hybrid working day now happens on a screen.
What digital eye strain actually is
Digital eye strain, sometimes called computer vision syndrome, is a cluster of symptoms linked to extended screen use rather than a single specific condition. It isn’t caused by screens damaging your eyes — it’s more to do with how screen use changes ordinary visual habits, particularly reduced blink rate, sustained close-range focus, and prolonged fixed posture, all of which the eyes and surrounding muscles aren’t well suited to sustaining for hours without a break.
What the research found
A 2024 study by researchers including those at Aston University, published in the journal Contact Lens and Anterior Eye, surveyed working adults across the UK and Ireland who used digital devices for at least one hour a day for work. Using a validated screening tool (the Computer Vision Syndrome Questionnaire, with a score of 6 or higher indicating digital eye strain), the study found:
- 62.6% of respondents met the criteria for digital eye strain
- The average reported device use was 9.7 hours a day
- 89.5% reported at least one ocular symptom (such as dryness, blurred vision, or headaches)
- 94.3% reported at least one musculoskeletal symptom (such as neck or shoulder discomfort) alongside their eye symptoms
- Despite how common symptoms were, only 8.1% considered them significant enough to actually affect their work
It’s worth being precise about what this does and doesn’t show: it’s a single web-based survey of digital device users rather than a randomly sampled study of the entire working population, so the exact figures shouldn’t be read as a precise national rate. But it’s a genuinely useful, peer-reviewed data point on a population that closely matches London’s largely office- and screen-based hybrid workforce, and the gap it highlights — very common symptoms, but comparatively few people treating them as a real problem — is arguably the more interesting finding than the topline percentage.
Common symptoms to recognise
Digital eye strain tends to show up as some combination of:
- Dry, irritated, or watery eyes
- Blurred or fluctuating vision, particularly by the end of the day
- Headaches, often centred around the eyes or temples
- Difficulty refocusing between near and far distances
- Neck, shoulder, or upper back discomfort that tends to accompany the eye symptoms, rather than being unrelated
What actually helps
The advice that follows isn’t a list of vague wellness tips — it reflects specific guidance from UK eyecare professionals, aimed at the mechanisms above rather than screens generally.
The 20-20-20 pattern. The College of Optometrists recommends structuring screen-heavy work with regular breaks — broadly, looking away from the screen at something roughly 20 feet away for around 20 seconds, at regular intervals through the day, rather than working through several hours unbroken. For video calls specifically, the College has suggested keeping meetings to around 40 minutes where possible, with a short break to rest your eyes partway through longer ones.
Blink deliberately, more often. Screen use measurably reduces blink rate, which is part of why eyes dry out during long stretches of screen work — consciously blinking more often during screen-heavy tasks helps offset this.
Wear the right glasses for screen distance, if you have them. If glasses have been prescribed specifically for computer use, wearing them for that purpose (rather than only for distance or reading) makes a meaningful difference, since screen distance sits between the two.
Structure your breaks around genuinely looking away, not just switching screens. A break spent checking your phone doesn’t address the underlying strain in the way a break spent looking at something further away does. The same principle behind building movement into a desk-based day applies here — regular, deliberate breaks matter more than trying to power through and compensate later.
When it’s worth seeing an optometrist
If eye strain persists despite taking regular breaks, or if you notice ongoing blurred vision, persistent headaches, or eye discomfort that doesn’t ease outside of screen use, that’s worth raising with an optometrist rather than assuming it’s simply an unavoidable part of screen-based work. An eye examination can rule out an underlying vision problem that’s making screen use harder than it needs to be, and an optometrist can advise on whether screen-specific glasses would help in your particular case.
The practical takeaway
Digital eye strain is genuinely common among people doing screen-heavy hybrid work, and the evidence suggests most people experiencing it aren’t treating it as a real problem worth addressing. The response that actually helps isn’t using screens less in some general sense — it’s specific, structured habits around breaks, blinking, and the right glasses for screen distance, alongside getting persistent symptoms checked rather than assuming they’re just part of the job.
Sources: Aston University Research Explorer — Digital eye strain and its impact on working adults in the UK and Ireland (2024), Contact Lens and Anterior Eye, Vol. 47, Issue 6 — Digital eye strain and its impact on working adults in the UK and Ireland, College of Optometrists — advice on screen use and eye care
