When reading itself feels like hard work
Do words seem to move, blur or shimmer on the page? Do you or your child experience headaches, eye strain or discomfort when reading? Perhaps you regularly lose your place, skip lines or find yourself re-reading the same sentence.
Sometimes these difficulties remain even when eyesight is normal and the correct glasses prescription is being worn.
For some people, changing the colour or contrast of the page can make reading feel noticeably more comfortable.
At Farmilo Optometrist, our Read EZ Visual Stress Assessment allows us to investigate this systematically and measure whether using colour makes a meaningful difference.
Don't just choose a colour. Measure whether it helps.
What Is Visual Stress?
Visual stress is a term used to describe a collection of visual symptoms that some people experience when looking at repetitive, high-contrast patterns — including black text on a white page.
Symptoms can vary considerably between individuals. Some people describe:
Visual stress is sometimes referred to as Meares-Irlen syndrome or visual pattern sensitivity.
The mechanisms behind these symptoms aren’t fully understood, and research into visual stress and coloured filters remains an area of ongoing scientific discussion.
That’s why we believe it’s particularly important to assess each person individually rather than assuming that coloured overlays or lenses will help everybody.
- Words appearing to move or shimmer
- Blurring while reading
- Letters appearing to change
- Patterns or glare on the page
- Losing their place
- Difficulty tracking from one line to another
- Headaches associated with reading
- Eye strain or visual discomfort
- Reading becoming increasingly uncomfortable over time
Visual Stress Is Not the Same as Dyslexia
Visual stress and dyslexia are different.
Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects skills involved in reading and spelling. Visual stress describes visual symptoms or discomfort associated with viewing text and other repetitive patterns.
A person can have dyslexia without experiencing visual stress. Someone can also experience visual stress without having dyslexia. And some people may experience both. Coloured overlays or tinted lenses do not treat dyslexia itself.
However, where someone experiences visual discomfort when reading and demonstrates a benefit from colour, an appropriate tint may make the page more comfortable to look at.
Children and Visual Stress
Children don’t always have the vocabulary to explain that a page looks uncomfortable. Instead, you might notice that they:
These signs don’t automatically mean a child has visual stress. There are many possible reasons why a child may struggle with reading. That’s why an appropriate eye examination is important before assuming colour is the answer.
- Avoid reading
- Rub their eyes
- Complain of headaches during homework
- Lose their place frequently
- Use a finger to follow words
- Skip lines
- Read for short periods before becoming uncomfortable
- Say that words move, blur or look strange
- Prefer reading under particular lighting conditions
- Find prolonged reading tiring
Which colour do you like?
Choosing a coloured overlay shouldn’t simply be about asking:
We want to know whether colour actually makes a difference. At Farmilo, we use the Read EZ system as part of our Visual Stress Assessment. Read EZ allows different colour settings to be explored systematically while looking at text.
The aim is to identify whether a particular colour or combination provides a meaningful improvement in reading comfort for the individual being assessed.
We Measure the Difference
Subjective comfort matters — but we don’t want to rely on that alone.
We can establish baseline information about your symptoms and reading performance and then compare this with performance using the selected colour.
This allows us to ask a much more useful question:
Does this colour actually make reading more comfortable or easier for you?
Where appropriate, reading performance can be compared before and after introducing colour. This gives us additional information when deciding whether a coloured overlay, reading ruler or tint is worth using.
What Happens During a Visual Stress Assessment?
1. We discuss your symptoms
We’ll talk about what happens when you read, when symptoms occur and how they affect school, work or everyday life.
2. Establish a baseline
We assess your reading experience and establish baseline measurements that can be used for comparison.
3. Explore different colours
Using Read EZ, we systematically explore different colour settings to see whether changing the background or contrast makes reading more comfortable.
4. Measure your response
Where a preferred colour is identified, we can compare your reading performance and symptoms with and without the colour.
5. Discuss your options
If colour appears to provide a meaningful benefit, we’ll explain the practical options available. If it doesn’t make a worthwhile difference, we’ll tell you.
The purpose of the assessment is to find out whether colour helps — not to sell everybody coloured lenses.
What Can Treatment Look Like?
If your assessment suggests that colour provides a useful benefit, there are several ways it can be incorporated into everyday reading.
Coloured Overlays
A coloured overlay is a transparent sheet placed over printed text. It’s simple, inexpensive and can be a useful first step where a particular colour makes reading more comfortable.
Coloured Reading Rulers
A coloured reading ruler combines colour with a guide that can help some people keep their place when moving along a line of text.
Digital Screen Tinting
For people who spend significant amounts of time reading from computers or tablets, similar colour settings may be used on digital screens where appropriate.
Precision Tinted Spectacle Lenses
For people who demonstrate a clear benefit from colour and want a more convenient solution, tinted spectacle lenses may be considered following appropriate assessment.
Unlike an overlay, spectacles can provide the selected tint across a wider range of visual tasks. We’ll discuss whether this is appropriate based on your individual results and visual requirements.
Who Could Benefit From an Assessment?
A Visual Stress Assessment may be worth considering for:
We can assess children from approximately 6–7 years of age upwards, depending on their ability to engage reliably with the assessment.
There is no upper age limit for adults.
- Children who find reading visually uncomfortable
- Children who complain of headaches or eye strain when reading
- People who describe words moving, shimmering or blurring
- People who frequently lose their place when reading
- Adults who experience visual discomfort during prolonged reading
- People with dyslexia who also experience visual symptoms when reading
- People whose reading remains uncomfortable despite having had their eyesight and prescription checked
Should I Have an Eye Test First?
Yes, particularly for children or anyone who hasn’t had a recent eye examination.
Reading difficulties can sometimes be associated with refractive error, binocular vision problems or other visual issues that need to be identified separately.
A Visual Stress Assessment isn’t a replacement for a comprehensive eye examination. Where appropriate, we’ll recommend completing an eye examination before proceeding with visual stress testing.
Will Coloured Lenses Help Everyone?
No. Some people report a significant improvement in comfort with a particular colour. Others notice a smaller difference. And some people don’t benefit from colour at all. That’s precisely why we assess and measure the response before recommending a solution.
We don’t assume colour will work.
We find out whether it works for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. They’re different conditions and coloured filters don’t treat dyslexia itself.
However, some people with dyslexia may also experience visual discomfort when reading. Where this occurs, a Visual Stress Assessment can investigate whether colour changes their reading comfort.
We generally assess children from around 6–7 years old, although suitability depends on whether the child can reliably engage with the assessment.
Yes. A Visual Stress Assessment shouldn’t replace a comprehensive eye examination.
We want to make sure that eyesight, prescription and other aspects of visual function have been appropriately assessed before attributing symptoms to visual stress.
No. A coloured overlay or reading ruler may be sufficient for some people. Tinted spectacle lenses are considered where appropriate based on the assessment and the individual’s needs.
Yes. Adults can experience visual discomfort associated with reading and repetitive patterns too. An assessment can be useful where symptoms persist despite an appropriate glasses prescription and otherwise satisfactory eye examination.
Visual Stress Assessment in Leicester
If you or your child finds reading visually uncomfortable, experiences headaches or eye strain when reading, or describes words as moving, blurring or shimmering, a Visual Stress Assessment can help investigate whether colour makes a measurable difference.
At Farmilo Optometrist, we use Read EZ to explore colour systematically rather than simply asking you to choose a favourite tint.
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Read EZ Visual Stress Assessment — £60
Farmilo Optometrist — Leicester