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What do you do when screens make your head hurt or dizzy, but your work, your family
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and your daily life still require you to stay connected?
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Welcome to Migraine Heroes, a podcast for people living with chronic migraines with
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years of pain, misunderstanding and lack of answers.
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I'm Diane Ducarme.
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I've helped more than a thousand people reduce the burden of migraines and feel more in control.
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My mission in life, to help a million people.
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Each episode brings you grounded insight into what your body might be asking for and what
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Just to keep you fully supported, this podcast is educational.
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For diagnosis or medication, always work with your doctor.
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Now take a breath and let's dive in.
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In this episode, you will learn 9 realistic adjustments that can reduce visual strain
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without requiring you to abandon your computer, your telephone or your tablet.
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How to make your screen feel calmer through things like dark mode or reduced motion, clearer
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text, better positioning and fewer visual distractions.
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And how to replace some screen-heavy tasks with voice, movement and screen-free transitions
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so that you can remain productive without asking your eyes and brain to do all the work.
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Stay with me till the end because by the end of this episode, you will have a whole suite
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of solutions to be productive at home and at work and manage to keep your brain and
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your eyes happier.
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So this morning, I had a meeting with one of my co-founders, Hélène.
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The Hélène based in Bordeaux in France, because we actually have two Hélènes in
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And we were reviewing the app, which we designed from the beginning to feel calming, beautiful
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and visually gentle.
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And we already had features such as dark mode or a softer visual palette that people completely
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appreciate so much.
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This is the first spontaneous praise people usually give the color palettes done by our
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designers who also suffer from migraines.
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But Hélène brought another important idea to the conversation.
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So she explained that she was working with our lead engineer to introduce something phenomenal,
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a reduced motion mode, and that is an accessibility setting that limits or removes movement on
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And this can be especially important for people living with vestibular migraine, with dizziness,
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vertigo, and we serve so many of those and I'm happy we can give them a better experience
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Even subtle motion on the screen can sometimes, for some of you, feel disorientating or exhausting
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when the brain is already struggling to process visual information.
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And honestly, I was amazed because I had never thought about this before.
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And to share it, what was happening is we had this beautiful loader with little clouds
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and the clouds would gently sway from one side to the other and this is too much for
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And Hélène understands this personally because she has lived with migraine herself, she does
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not experience it every single day, and I have had the privilege of supporting her in
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managing them, but she knows firsthand how disruptive and exhausting migraine can be.
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She also had an extraordinary career at Google where she led media across Asia and at one
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point she said to me, I can continue helping Google grow, which many talented people can
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do, or I can join you and help more people living with migraine.
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And that tells you so much about who she is.
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She's a wonderful soul, an incredibly capable woman, and someone who brings both professional
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expertise and lived experience to our team.
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So that's what sparked today's episode.
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So now many of us, many of us, me included, spend hours every day in front of the screen.
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And for many people, unplugging completely is just completely unrealistic.
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So the real question is not, how do we eliminate screens?
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The question is, how can we make screens calmer, safer, and easier for our eyes and brains to
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How can we protect our vision for the long term?
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How can we reduce unnecessary visual stress?
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And how can we continue working, connecting, and living in a digital world without constantly
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pushing our nervous system beyond its limits?
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So today, I'm not going to take you through all the science of why motion can increase
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visual dependence, or why screens can become so triggering for a migraine-sensitive brain.
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And I'm also not going to spend time unpacking all the theory behind it.
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That's going to be the object of other podcasts.
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Instead, I'm going to go straight for what you came for, nine practical ways to reduce
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the impact of screens on your eyes and brain.
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Number one, match the screen to the room.
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The first strategy is to avoid what is called the bright island effect.
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This happens when a bright screen is surrounded by a dark room.
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Your eyes and brain have to manage the contrast between the glowing rectangle and the environment
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During migraine vulnerability, that contrast can feel particularly harsh.
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Instead of automatically turning the brightness all the way down, you can try to make the
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screen feel as though it belongs to the room.
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During the day, you reduce the direct sunlight and reflections, but keep the room comfortably
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In the evening, you use a soft ambient lighting, rather than working with a screen as the only
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The screen should not resemble a spotlight pointed at your face, but it should also not
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be so dim that you squint, or you lean forward, or you struggle to read.
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Number two, turn on dark mode and make it truly comfortable.
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So let us make a dark mode very clear, because this is one of the easiest changes to overlook.
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So dark mode is what replaces a large bright white background with a darker one.
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So for many people, particularly in a dim room or during a migraine attack, this immediately
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reduces the amount of light coming towards your eyes.
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So turn it on at the level of your telephone or computer, and then turn it on inside the
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applications you feel you use most often.
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Some applications do not automatically follow the settings of your device.
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So turn the dark mode on at the level of your telephone or computer, and then turn
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it on inside the applications you use most often.
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Some applications will follow the setting of the device, and some will not.
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Turning on dark mode usually takes less than a minute.
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On a Windows computer, you go to settings, personalization, colors, and select dark under
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On a Mac, you open system settings, appearance, and choose dark.
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On an iPhone, you go to settings, display and brightness, and then select dark.
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And on most Android telephones, you open settings, display, and turn on the dark theme.
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So although the exact wording may vary slightly depending on the telephone.
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But dark mode is not perfect for everyone.
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Some people see halos, or they find bright white letters on a completely black background,
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completely uncomfortable.
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And so if pure black and white feels too harsh for you, look inside the application, browse
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your reading mode for a theme or an apparent setting, rather than relying only on the standard
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You can choose a charcoal gray, or a dark blue gray, or another softer background, and
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you can pair it with cream beige or a pale gray text instead of brilliant white.
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You can also lower the screen contrast.
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You can reduce brightness and turn on warmer color settings, such as it's called night
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light on Windows, night shift on Apple devices, or eye comfort on many Android telephones.
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For bright webpages, try reader mode on a browser extension that changes white backgrounds
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The aim is to make the screen flick gentler and less glaring, not simply darker.
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So as a note, this is 29th of July, 2026, we'll update these podcasts over time.
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But this is the philosophy.
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The goal is not to use the darkest setting possible.
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The goal is to create a screen that feels quiet.
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Okay, number three, reduce flicker and movement wherever possible.
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So a screen may appear steady, even while its light output is changing very rapidly.
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And many people do not consciously see this flicker, but people with migraine can be especially
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sensitive and perceive that changing visual stimulation.
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So research published in Cephalalgia found that flickering visual stimulation produced
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greater discomfort in migraine sufferers.
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Test whether a higher screen refresh setting feels more comfortable, avoid visible flickering
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lamps and notice whether one device consistently causes symptoms faster than another.
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So now, the technical accessibility setting, Magical, is called reduced motion mode.
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The World Wide Aware Consortium especially recognize that certain animations can provoke
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dizziness, nausea and headaches in people with vestibular disorders.
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You may feel really isolated in what's happening to you, but at a large scale, they notice
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you, they see you.
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You do not need to understand every technical specification.
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Your body can provide all of the information required.
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If this is you and you have an iPhone, go to Settings, Accessibility, Motion, turn
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And for Google Pixel and many Android devices, go to Settings, Accessibility, Color and Motion,
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Remove Animations.
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Or on Samsung Galaxy Fold, you go to Settings, Accessibility, Vision Enhancement, Reduce
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If one monitor repeatedly creates sensitivity with eyes and vision within 20 minutes and
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another does not, that difference matters.
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Try to adjust the one that hurts.
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And if you need to listen again to this part of the podcast to do it live, just do it.
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If you have a 10-year-old child or a nephew or niece, you know those people I'd like to
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say techie but pre-puberty, ask them and they will help you with this.
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Make the letters larger, bolder and easier to read.
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Small thin letters require more effort than most of us realize.
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Increase the size of the text before your eyes begin to strain.
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Make the letters bolder.
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Add more space between the lines.
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Use reading mode when it's available and simplify crowded pages.
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Hide unnecessary toolbars and notifications.
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Reduce the number of windows open at once.
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Turn off automatic movement and work with one clear visual task at a time, whenever
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So the objective is not only to reduce slide, it's to reduce how much information your brain
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must filter, prioritize and suppress.
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I personally enlarge text all the time.
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It does not mean my eyes are weak.
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It means I am making the information easier to access and I allow my brain to focus on
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the meaning rather than struggling to decipher the presentation.
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I always tell my children, technology is at your service, you are not at service of technology.
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Change your screen position and posture.
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So a screen related migraine may not be caused by the screen itself.
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If the display is too low, too high, too far away or too close, you may tense your forehead,
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you may tense your shoulders, your neck without realizing it.
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So place the screen approximately one arm's length away, then adapt the distance to your
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own vision and the size of the letters.
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The top of the display can sit around your eye level or slightly below it, allowing your
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gaze to angle gently downward without collapsing your neck.
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You need support for your forearms, you need to let your shoulders drop, you need to keep
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your jaw loose, bring documents closer rather than repeatedly twisting your head between
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the desk and the screen.
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Adjust visual lock and complete your blinks.
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So when you concentrate on a screen, your blinking pattern can change.
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That's something quite funny.
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You may blink less frequently, or your eyelids may not close completely.
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And scientists studied blinking during computer work research published in Optometry and Vision
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Science, and they found that incomplete blinking was associated with increased symptoms following
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So each complete blink helps to redistribute the tear film over your eye, and when the
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eye surface becomes dry or irritated, visual comfort can deteriorate.
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Each complete blink helps to redistribute the tear film over your eye, and when the
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eye surface becomes dry or irritated, visual discomfort can increase.
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So try to interrupt visual lock before pain forces you to stop.
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So every 20 minutes or so, look at something further away for approximately 20 seconds.
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And this familiar 20-20-20 reminder is not just a magical medical formula, it's simply
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an easy way to release prolonged near-focus.
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So while looking away, complete 5 soft, full blinks.
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Do not squeeze, simply allow your eyelids to meet completely, and then you can close
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your eyes for 30 seconds between tasks, especially after a long video meeting or a sustained
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period of reading.
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Create an exit ramp before the migraine takes over.
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Do not wait until the attack becomes impossible to ignore.
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An exit ramp is a response you decide on before you need it.
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Your first signs might include pressure behind one eye, or difficulty understanding words,
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or sudden yawning, uncontrollable yawning, neck stiffness, irritability, a visual shimmer,
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nausea, dizziness, or a screen that abruptly feels just too bright.
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Your exit ramp might be something like save the document, send one essential message,
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and then close unnecessary windows and move to a calmer visual environment.
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And without an exit ramp, it's easy to continue working and to push through until your nervous
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system is far more activated.
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Early action is not giving in, it's changing direction before the road becomes much harder.
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Use your voice so your eyes can rest.
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This is definitely one of my favorites.
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Use your voice instead of typing whenever you can.
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So I use voice a lot on ChatGPT, I use dictation on my telephone.
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So instead of sitting still and writing a long email, I'm going to go for a walk, and
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I'm going to say out loud what I want the email to communicate.
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Then I find a bench, I sit on it, I read it, I make a few edits, and I send it.
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So you can use voice to draft an email, capture an idea, create a shopping list, write notes
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after a meeting, outline a presentation, or just send a message.
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Protect the first and last part of your day.
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Screen exposure late in the evening can influence alertness, melatonin, sleep timing, and how
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easily you settle into sleep.
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So there was a controlled study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy
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of Sciences, and the scientists there found that evening use of light-emitting electronic
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reader delayed the circadian timing, suppressed melatonin, and increased the timing required
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to fall asleep, and reduced alertness the following morning compared with reading a
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Experts in circadian lighting recommend stronger daytime light exposure and much lower light
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exposure during the evening and night.
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So this is something I really hold precious personally.
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I try to really start the day without a screen if I can, or when I can, and then try to really
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ease into the evening.
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So I still want to give a note about blue light glasses.
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So there are some blue light filtering glasses, and they're often presented as a universal
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solution for screen discomfort, and the evidence is not so clear.
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So it doesn't mean that every tinted lens is useless.
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Migraine photophobia is highly individual, and people do not necessarily respond equally
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to every wavelength or color of light.
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So be curious, test how you respond, and what works for you, just works.
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Your brain's the boss.
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So my advice for today, listen to the episode once more.
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Make some changes, and come back to make some more.
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Technology is here to make your life easier, not harder.
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So make it do what you want it to do.
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Take control over your technology.
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And remember, every small step you take moves you closer to freedom.
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You are powerful, you are resilient, and you're not alone.
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Keep rising, Migraine Hero.
