To see things up close, the eye focuses thanks to a small internal muscle, the ciliary muscle. This is what we call accommodation. When we spend many hours on end reading, studying or looking at screens, that muscle can remain contracted even when it is no longer needed, much like a cramp. This is known as an accommodative spasm, or accommodation spasm.<\/p>\n
Symptoms<\/strong><\/p>\n It is more common in older children, teenagers and young adults who place heavy demands on their near vision, and often coincides with periods of intense study or stress.<\/p>\n Why it is important to diagnose it correctly<\/strong><\/p>\n As the person\u2019s distant vision is blurred, accommodative spasm can be mistaken for short-sightedness (which is why it is also called pseudomyopia). If the prescription is measured without relaxing the focus, there is a risk of prescribing glasses for short-sightedness that are unnecessary and may worsen the discomfort.<\/p>\n To diagnose it, the ophthalmologist measures the prescription using eye drops that temporarily relax the ciliary muscle. If the short-sightedness disappears or is significantly reduced with the drops, the problem lies with focusing, not the prescription.<\/p>\n Treatment<\/strong><\/p>\n This depends on each individual case. It usually involves a combination of breaks and good eye care habits, the correction of any other refractive errors (such as hyperopia), and occasionally eye drops prescribed for a period of time or visual therapy to restore flexible focusing.<\/p>\n A simple habit to help prevent it: for every 20 minutes of close-up work, look at something in the distance \u2013 about 6 metres away \u2013 for around 20 seconds.<\/p>\n At INOF<\/strong><\/p>\n Accommodative spasm forms part of the binocular vision assessment carried out by Dr Dora Fern\u00e1ndez-Agrafojo\u2019s unit. She is the author, alongside other INOF professionals, of the article \u2018Treatment of accommodative spasm\u2019, published in the journal Annals d\u2019Oftalmologia (vol. 33, no. 1, 2025).<\/p>\n Would you like an assessment?<\/strong> You can book an appointment by calling 640 310 733<\/strong> or emailing atencionalpaciente@inof.es.<\/strong> INOF clinic at the Teknon Medical Centre, C\/ Vilana 12, consultation rooms 156\u2013159, 08022 Barcelona.<\/p>\n *Dr Dora Fern\u00e1ndez-Agrafojo \u00b7 INOF, Binocular Vision, Strabismus and Neuro-ophthalmology Unit*<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" To see things up close, the eye focuses thanks to a small internal muscle, the ciliary muscle. This is what we call accommodation. When we spend many hours on end reading, studying or looking at screens, that muscle can remain contracted even when it is no longer needed, much like a cramp. This is known…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":6228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[378],"tags":[],"post_series":[],"class_list":["post-6232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-visual-acuity","entry","has-media"],"yoast_head":"\n\n