As much as we depend on our mobile devices for viewing and responding to emails, checking the weather, reading headline news, and posting status updates on Facebook, our smartphones may be causing us some serious vision problems. Staring at those tiny screens can bring on an array of eye issues such as blurred vision, headaches, sore eyes, headaches, muscle strain and dry eye.
A nationwide survey of New Zealand optometrists has found that nine in ten (87%) say they are concerned about the number of people presenting with eye damage, some as young as five years old, as a result of heavy digital device use. The Eyezen study also showed that eight in ten (80%) optometrists believed those patients most affected were aged between 30 and 40 and disturbingly; one in five (19%) said in their experience, teenagers were also in the highest risk group. The research also found the most frequent symptom of excessive device use was dry eyes with almost eight in ten (77%) optometrist’s saying patients were presenting with this condition frequently. Eyestrain and headaches were seen almost as often at 72% and 52% respectively.
Other common symptoms revealed in the research were stinging/tired or itching eyes, discomfort caused by the glare of the screen, and a progressive difficulty in staring at the device.
Optometrist Bruce Nicholls says; strained vision, headaches and sleep deprivation are all linked to the high energy blue light emitted by flat screens and the cumulative effect of regularly switching between multiple devices. He says many of us are looking at our phone screens up to 150 times a day along with additional exposure to laptops, tablets and PC’s.
“What we are seeing now is that concentrated numbers of hours spent in intensive screen time while gaming and even long work days are causing noticeable symptoms in device users. Essentially over-exposure to that blue light - which occurs on the light spectrum next to harmful invisible ultraviolet light could cause significant, long term damage,” he says.
Nicholls says also of concern is recent research which shows 90% of technology users are working across multiple screens for everyday activities, again increasing their risk of harm from blue light.
“According to one study, 75 percent of people who use two or more devices simultaneously report experiencing symptoms of digital eye strain compared to only 53 percent of people who use just one device at a time. There are strong suspicions that high energy blue light could cause damage to the macula, which could cause loss of central vision over a lifetime of use. That is what is now being researched globally.” Nicholls says a better-safe-than-sorry approach needs to be adopted and advocates blue light protection as a counter to increased screen use for patients under 40.
“What we are saying to younger people who will potentially spend a huge proportion of their working life in front of blue-light emitting screens is that that could well be a problem for you. It’s a cumulative problem,” he says.
Nicholls, who has been in practice in Auckland’s Browns Bay over 20 years, currently prescribes blue-light blocking lenses to increasing numbers of Kiwis displaying symptoms of digital eye strain. “I usually prescribe it for people who have visual fatigue from prolonged screen use and it does make quite a bit of difference de-stressing their focus system - which is what it is designed to do." The pretext is that if we stop blue light from entering the eye then potentially you stop its damaging effects.
