Bright light can feel sharp on some days: a sunny window, a screen, shop lighting, a car’s headlights. These five tools are for comfort on those days. They are optional, and they come second to one thing: light sensitivity can go with medical conditions, and some symptoms need urgent care. Do not assume it is stress or tiredness.
1. Read the safety advice first
The NHS migraine page (https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/migraine/) says migraine causes symptoms such as a severe headache, feeling sick and sensitivity to light. Here is its triage advice, so you can check your situation first.
- Call your local emergency number if you or your child: have a headache that came on suddenly and is extremely painful; have problems speaking or remembering things; lose your vision, or have blurred or double vision; feel drowsy or confused; have a seizure or fit; have a very high temperature and symptoms of meningitis; cannot move or have weakness in the arms or legs on 1 side of your body, or 1 side of your face; or have recently had a head injury. The NHS says not to drive yourself to hospital.
- Ask for an urgent doctor’s appointment or get urgent medical advice if you have a migraine attack and it has lasted longer than 72 hours, aura symptoms last longer than 1 hour at a time, or you are pregnant or have just had a baby.
- See a doctor if your migraine attacks are severe or getting worse or lasting longer than usual, you have migraine attacks more than once a week, you are finding it difficult to control your migraine, or you regularly get migraine before or during your period.
The tools below do not replace any of that, and you should not use them to delay care.
When it is not about migraine
Sensitivity to light can have other causes, and you cannot tell the cause from the feeling. If sensitivity is new, ask a doctor or an eye specialist. The NHS red eye page (https://www.nhs.uk/symptoms/red-eye/) says to call your local emergency number if you have a red eye and: you have any changes to your sight, like wavy lines, flashing or loss of vision; it hurts to look at light; you have a severe headache and feel sick; your eye or eyes are very dark red; you have injured your eye or something is stuck in it; your injury was caused by a dangerous liquid, such as a chemical; or 1 pupil is bigger than the other. It says not to drive yourself. It says to get urgent medical advice, or an urgent appointment with a doctor or optician, if your eye is very painful and red, or you have a red eye and wear contact lenses. If you lose your vision, or have blurred or double vision, use the emergency advice at the top of this page and do not wait to see whether it passes. Do not stop a prescribed medicine without talking to a doctor.
2. Lower the light where you can
Close curtains, dim lamps, turn down screen brightness or step into a shaded room. Outdoors, a cap with a brim or sunglasses are options. These are practical choices, and you do not need to justify them.
3. Rest your eyes
Look away from screens at intervals, and let your eyes rest on something soft, such as a dim wall or a plant in the shade. Orienting is about letting your eyes settle on something gentle. If you are lying down, you can close your eyes for a while.
4. Feel what is holding you
Notice where your body touches the chair, the sofa or the bed. Grounding gives your attention a steady place that is not the glare. Keep your eyes open if you are standing or moving.
5. Look after the basics
Drink water, eat something light if you can, and rest. Move slowly if you feel dizzy, and sit or lie down. If you are on a screen for work, you might look at practices for screen-strained eyes. Do not drive or do anything dangerous if bright light is hurting your eyes or affecting your vision.
Breath
You do not need to do anything with your breath. If you like, let one exhale out slowly, uncounted. Skip it if you are anxious or in pain, and stop if you feel dizzy. Ordinary breathing is the alternative.
Keeping a note
If light sensitivity keeps happening, write down when it started, what was going on, how long it lasted and any other symptoms. Take the note and a list of your medicines to a doctor or an eye specialist. Write facts, not guesses.
Light and the rest of the day
On a sensitive day, you might plan quieter tasks, move a meeting to a dim room or switch from a screen to a call. If other people share your space, you can say, “The light is hard for me today. Could we dim it?”
If you are worried
If you are worried about your symptoms, you can ask for help at any time. You do not have to wait until they get worse or work out whether they are serious. A doctor can look at the whole picture with you.
Related: a daily somatic routine.
