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In a personal essay published by Tiny Buddha, Ayurvedic medical student Joey Dua recounts experiencing burning eyes after long days of screen-based study and realizing he had stopped looking beyond his laptop. He says taking brief pauses and looking into the distance changed how he noticed his own strain, while stressing that he cannot establish the practices as proven therapies.
Ayurvedic medical student Joey Dua says recurring eye burning during long periods of screen-based study made him recognize how narrowly he had been directing his attention. In a personal essay published by Tiny Buddha, he describes trying brief breaks and looking into the distance, while cautioning that he cannot say the practices are proven treatments for eye strain.
Dua writes that during his second year of Ayurvedic medical school, his eyes began burning at about 9 p.m. each night. He says exams were approaching and he was studying from lecture slides, digital reference texts and practice questions, spending 12 or 13 hours a day reading on screens. He initially rubbed his eyes, blinked and returned to work.
One winter night, after a brief power flicker, he looked away from his laptop and found that the far wall appeared out of focus for several seconds. He says his vision sharpened again quickly and describes nothing medically dramatic happening. The moment nevertheless made him realize he could not remember the last time he had looked at the view beyond his desk, including a neem tree and rooftops visible from his window.
Dua says the pattern extended beyond studying: he ate at his desk without paying much attention to the food, skimmed friends’ messages and sometimes continued scrolling while his mother spoke on the phone. He tried practices described by his professors, including resting his closed eyes in darkness, gazing at distant objects, splashing his eyes with cool water and closing his eyes fully during screen work. He presents these as personal experiments, not established medical therapies.
When Screen Focus Becomes Narrow
Dua’s account matters as a personal report about the costs he noticed in a screen-heavy study routine. His central point is not that screens caused a diagnosed condition, but that concentrating for long stretches had become, in his experience, a way of overlooking bodily discomfort and ordinary parts of daily life. He describes the eyes as where that narrowing first became hard to ignore.
The essay also makes a distinction between concentrating on a task and attending to a wider situation. Dua says looking away helped him notice a clenched jaw, raised shoulders and shallow breathing that he had not registered while studying. Those are observations about his own experience, not evidence that distance gazing changes attention for everyone. Readers with persistent or concerning vision symptoms should not treat a personal essay as a substitute for professional eye care.
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A Student Studying Eye Care
Dua says he was learning Shalakya Tantra, the branch of Ayurveda concerned with the eyes and head, while relying heavily on digital study materials. He recalls studying teachings about factors such as prolonged close focus, insufficient rest, dryness and staying awake late, and recognizing that his own habits resembled some of those descriptions.
That contrast informs the essay: he could recite advice about eye care but had treated discomfort as something to push through. His response was to test small routines he had encountered in his education. He explicitly says he cannot establish whether they are proven therapies and notes that some have barely been studied. The source identifies him as a BAMS student who runs the Indian Ayurvedic brand Darakhtveda; it does not provide clinical evidence about the practices or the brand’s products.
“I was not paying attention. I was narrowing it.”
— Joey Dua, in his Tiny Buddha essay
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What the Essay Cannot Establish
The source is a first-person account, not a clinical study or medical assessment. It does not establish the cause of Dua’s eye burning or the brief difficulty focusing on the far wall, and it gives no diagnosis, examination results or measured outcome. His report that his vision sharpened within seconds does not establish what caused the episode.
Dua also says that some of the practices he tried have been studied little and that he cannot call them proven therapies. The essay supplies no research citations, comparison group or evidence that the practices prevent or treat eye conditions. It is also unclear from the source when the essay was published or how long Dua had followed the routines.
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How Dua Responds to Eye Strain
Dua says he remains a student and continues to use screens. When his eyes begin burning, he now pauses, closes them for a while or goes to the window to look at the neem tree and rooftops. He describes this as a change in response, not a cure, and says the discomfort still occurs.
The essay does not announce a study, medical recommendation or further project tied to these practices. Its reported next step is personal: Dua intends to keep noticing when discomfort appears and to make room for breaks and a wider view. Whether those routines affect his symptoms over time is not reported.
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Key Questions
What happened to Joey Dua’s eyes?
Dua says his eyes began burning around 9 p.m. during a period when he studied on screens for 12 or 13 hours a day. He also recounts a brief episode of difficulty focusing on a distant wall after a power flicker; he says his vision sharpened within seconds.
Did Dua say his eye-care practices are proven treatments?
No. He says he cannot describe the practices as proven therapies and notes that some have barely been studied. The essay reports what he personally tried, not a clinical result.
What practices did he try?
He describes resting with his closed eyes covered by warm hands, looking at distant objects, splashing his eyes with cool water in the morning and closing his eyes fully during screen work. These are practices from his personal account, not medical advice or proven treatments.
Did the changes stop his eye fatigue?
No. Dua says his eyes still get tired. He says he now pauses or looks out the window when the burning starts, but does not report a cure or measured change in symptoms.
Source: rss
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