Eye strain headaches and migraines are two very different things, but they can feel surprisingly similar, especially if you are in the middle of one and just want it to stop. Knowing which you are dealing with matters because the treatment is completely different, and in some cases an untreated vision problem is the thing that keeps triggering the migraines.
What an eye strain headache actually feels like
An eye strain headache tends to be a dull, aching pressure, usually across your forehead, around your eyes, or at your temples. It builds gradually through the day and tends to be worse after sustained visual tasks: reading, screen work, driving, or detailed close work. It almost always gets better when you close your eyes and rest for a while. It rarely wakes you up from sleep.
Importantly, an eye strain headache does not usually come with nausea, vomiting, or visual disturbances like flashing lights or zigzag patterns. It also does not typically make you want to lie in a dark room.
What a migraine actually feels like
A migraine is typically a throbbing or pulsating pain, often but not always on one side of the head. It is usually moderate to severe and tends to be made worse by physical activity, light, and sound. Nausea is common, and some people vomit. Migraines last between four and seventy-two hours without treatment.
About one third of migraine sufferers experience an aura before or during the headache. Aura symptoms include visual disturbances (zigzag lines, blind spots, flickering lights), numbness or tingling, and speech difficulty. These are caused by a wave of electrical and chemical changes moving across the brain, not by a problem with the eyes themselves.
Light sensitivity: present in both, but differently
Light sensitivity (photophobia) appears in both conditions but behaves differently. In eye strain headaches, bright light simply adds to the discomfort. In migraines, light sensitivity can be severe, making it impossible to function in normal indoor lighting, and it often persists even after the headache itself has resolved. This type of intense photophobia is what FL-41 tinted lenses are specifically designed to address.
The important overlap: vision problems that trigger migraines
This is where it gets clinically important. Vision problems do not cause migraines in the strict sense, but they can reliably trigger them in people who are already susceptible. Uncorrected astigmatism, long-sightedness, and binocular vision dysfunction all create visual stress that can push a migraineur over their trigger threshold more easily. Correcting the underlying vision problem often reduces migraine frequency, even though the migraine disorder itself exists independently.
When to see an optometrist versus a GP
See an optometrist if your headaches are linked to visual tasks, get worse through the day, sit around your eyes or forehead, or if you have not had an eye test in the last two years. A thorough eye examination can identify and treat the underlying vision cause.
See your GP if your headaches are severe, one-sided, come with nausea, are triggered by light or sound, or include aura symptoms. Migraines benefit from medical management, and your GP can refer you to a neurologist if needed.
If you have both, which is common, seeing both a GP and an optometrist is the right approach. At Prime Optometrists Auburn, we see patients from across Western Sydney including Berala, Lidcombe, Granville, Parramatta, Merrylands, Strathfield, and Bankstown. Eye tests are bulk billed under Medicare. Book online or call (02) 9761 0005.