If you work at a computer, you know how awful your eyes often feel by the end of the day.

After staring at screens, eyes become dry, itchy, blurry, irritated — and that discomfort is frequently accompanied by a headache.

This phenomena is known as eyestrain, often referred to as “digital eye strain,” since many of us experience it after staring at computers all day (it probably doesn’t help that we stare at phones during breaks and often return to staring at computer or other screens at home).

“It’s an important issue,” says Dr. Rahul Khurana, clinical spokesman for the American Academy of Ophthalmologists. Still, he explains, it’s possible to overhype the concerns about eyestrain too. For example, there’s no evidence that looking at screens is causing things as severe as vision loss. For this reason and others, there’s no need to purchase special glasses to avoid eyestrain. “It causes people to be uncomfortable, it causes irritation,” he says. But “we haven’t seen any issues with eyestrain causing permanent damage.”

By following a few simple procedures, it’s possible to avoid most of the negative effects of eyestrain in the first place.

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