Why does my child complain of headaches after reading?
Headaches with close work in a child often occur with an uncorrected refractive error or with a focusing or alignment problem, since the eyes are working harder than they should.
- Subject
- Children's eyes
- Topic
- Glasses, squints & lazy eye
- Kind of question
- Why…
- Last reviewed
- 22 September 2026
In more detail
Headaches are also commonly unrelated to vision, so an examination is what distinguishes the two rather than a pattern alone.
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Where this answer sits
It is one of 483 answers in the vision and eye health knowledge base, filed under Children's eye health in Glasses, squints & lazy eye . The subject page carries the answers either side of it, and the hub is searchable.
This information is for educational purposes and does not replace an examination by a qualified eye-care professional.
General answers cannot tell you what is happening in your own eyes. Only an examination by a qualified ophthalmologist can do that.
Sources & further reading
We prefer primary sources. Where a claim comes from a manufacturer, a single study or a regulator, it is labelled as such below.
- EyeSmart: eye health information for the public
Patient-facing material from the largest ophthalmology professional body, covering conditions, tests and treatments outside refractive surgery.
Used for Cross-checking patient-facing explanations of non-refractive eye conditions; Describing what tests such as dilation and OCT involve.
Link checked 23 September 2026