Fibromyalgia, Light Sensitivity and Screens

Key points

People with fibromyalgia rated everyday sensory input, like lights and sounds, as more unpleasant than people without it.¹

Brain scans showed muted responses in early visual and hearing areas and amplified responses in the insula, a region that helps judge how unpleasant a sensation feels.¹

Those differences tracked with how sensitive people felt and how severe their illness was.¹

A steady, glare-free screen removes one avoidable source of sensory load.

Is light sensitivity part of fibromyalgia?

For many people, yes. In a brain-imaging study of 35 women with fibromyalgia and 25 without, the women with fibromyalgia said everyday sensory input, like lights, sounds and touch, felt more unpleasant in daily life.¹

What did the brain scans show?

When shown simple visual, sound and touch stimuli that weren’t painful, people with fibromyalgia had weaker responses in the brain’s early visual and hearing areas and stronger responses in the insula, a region that pulls sensations together and helps judge how intense and unpleasant they feel. The bigger those differences, the more sensitive people felt and the more severe their fibromyalgia.¹ It suggests fibromyalgia changes how the brain handles sensory input in general, not only pain.

Screens and sensory load

A screen is a light source you look into for hours. Many add flicker you can’t see, from PWM dimming and FRC dithering, and flicker is a known trigger for headaches and eye strain.² Glare also makes you squint and tense your neck and shoulders.³ None of that causes fibromyalgia, but all of it adds to the sensory load.

Making screens easier

Lower brightness to match the room.
Reduce glare from windows and overhead lights.
Set up your desk so you don’t lean in; see neck, jaw and shoulder tension.
Take regular breaks.
Choose a screen with steady, warm light: no PWM, no dithering and no bare bulbs.

The Firelight isn’t a medical device and doesn’t treat fibromyalgia. Work with your doctor on managing your symptoms.

Sources

López-Solà M, Pujol J, Wager TD, et al.. Altered functional magnetic resonance imaging responses to nonpainful sensory stimulation in fibromyalgia patients. Arthritis & Rheumatology. 2014;66(11):3200–3209. doi:10.1002/art.38781

Wilkins AJ, Nimmo-Smith I, Slater AI, Bedocs L. Fluorescent lighting, headaches and eyestrain. Lighting Research & Technology. 1989;21(1):11–18. doi:10.1177/096032718902100102

Mork R, Falkenberg HK, Fostervold KI, Thorud HMS. Visual and psychological stress during computer work in healthy, young females: physiological responses. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health. 2018;91(7):811–830. doi:10.1007/s00420-018-1324-5