Smartphone makes Ontario teen go temporarily blind
Kate Dubinski, QMI Agency
First posted: Friday, January 23, 2015 07:17 PM EST | Updated: Friday, January 23, 2015 07:38 PM EST
LONDON, Ont. — Here's an eye-popping fact — binge-watching shows on your smartphone can make you go blind.
Staring for long periods at small hand-held devices is doing serious damage to people’s eyes, optometrists warn. And young people are especially at risk.
One London teen, after binge-watching her favourite Netflix programs on her smartphone this past summer, looked up and realized she couldn't see. Her eyesight was so bad, she was legally blind.
"Her eyes were over-focusing and spasming, and the eye doctor told her she had to stop using her phone to watch Netflix and to read and for Facebook," Rene Boucher, whose 16-year-old daughter was legally blind at the height of her problem, said.
Dr. Christina Schropp, Boucher's daughter's optometrist, said she's seeing more patients with similar problems.
"We're seeing a lot more of it as people use their phones to watch videos and do everything else," she said. "That kind of visual stimulation from a small screen over a long time — the ciliary muscle has to bend to focus, and the closer the object is, the more it has to bend."
In fact, dry, itchy eyes, blurry vision, even neck and shoulder pain are on the rise because of the strain digital devices put on our eyes and bodies, Dr. Kirsten North, an optometrist in Ottawa, said.
"About 70% of people will experience some kind of eye strain at some point because of the digital devices we use," she said.
The problem is the length of time we stare at small screens, and what's on them.
"The print has gotten smaller and smaller, to the point where we're trying to cram an entire email onto a tiny screen,” she said.
The patients with eye strain have gotten younger, North said. "Kids used to never have this, now I have kids who need eye drops."
It took three months of therapy to get Boucher's daughter's eyes back to normal. Her vision now is almost 20/20.
Ultimately, Boucher told his daughter she wouldn't be allowed to get her driver's licence or drive the family car if she didn't take the steps to correct her vision.
That involved wearing special glasses and not using her device too much.
Boucher's daughter still uses her mobile devices, but knows when her eyes are getting tired, he said.
"With these phones, it's crazy. Parents let their really young kids go crazy on the devices," Schropp said.
Children under two shouldn't have any time in front of a screen, and screen time should be severely limited until age six, she said.
Generally, muscles in the eye will fatigue when they have to focus on something close, Dr. Ken Foster, an ophthalmologist in New Brunswick, said.
"There are a lot of people who do close work, people who are using digital interfaces more, who say they can't see as well by the end of the day, but with a bit of rest, their eyes go back to normal," he said.
To have the problem continue for three months is rare, he said/
"Make sure you take breaks and let your eyes refocus," Foster advised.
kate.dubinski@sunmedia.ca
Twitter: @KateatLFPress
Smartphone makes Ontario teen go temporarily blind | Ontario | News | Toronto Su
Kate Dubinski, QMI Agency
First posted: Friday, January 23, 2015 07:17 PM EST | Updated: Friday, January 23, 2015 07:38 PM EST
LONDON, Ont. — Here's an eye-popping fact — binge-watching shows on your smartphone can make you go blind.
Staring for long periods at small hand-held devices is doing serious damage to people’s eyes, optometrists warn. And young people are especially at risk.
One London teen, after binge-watching her favourite Netflix programs on her smartphone this past summer, looked up and realized she couldn't see. Her eyesight was so bad, she was legally blind.
"Her eyes were over-focusing and spasming, and the eye doctor told her she had to stop using her phone to watch Netflix and to read and for Facebook," Rene Boucher, whose 16-year-old daughter was legally blind at the height of her problem, said.
Dr. Christina Schropp, Boucher's daughter's optometrist, said she's seeing more patients with similar problems.
"We're seeing a lot more of it as people use their phones to watch videos and do everything else," she said. "That kind of visual stimulation from a small screen over a long time — the ciliary muscle has to bend to focus, and the closer the object is, the more it has to bend."
In fact, dry, itchy eyes, blurry vision, even neck and shoulder pain are on the rise because of the strain digital devices put on our eyes and bodies, Dr. Kirsten North, an optometrist in Ottawa, said.
"About 70% of people will experience some kind of eye strain at some point because of the digital devices we use," she said.
The problem is the length of time we stare at small screens, and what's on them.
"The print has gotten smaller and smaller, to the point where we're trying to cram an entire email onto a tiny screen,” she said.
The patients with eye strain have gotten younger, North said. "Kids used to never have this, now I have kids who need eye drops."
It took three months of therapy to get Boucher's daughter's eyes back to normal. Her vision now is almost 20/20.
Ultimately, Boucher told his daughter she wouldn't be allowed to get her driver's licence or drive the family car if she didn't take the steps to correct her vision.
That involved wearing special glasses and not using her device too much.
Boucher's daughter still uses her mobile devices, but knows when her eyes are getting tired, he said.
"With these phones, it's crazy. Parents let their really young kids go crazy on the devices," Schropp said.
Children under two shouldn't have any time in front of a screen, and screen time should be severely limited until age six, she said.
Generally, muscles in the eye will fatigue when they have to focus on something close, Dr. Ken Foster, an ophthalmologist in New Brunswick, said.
"There are a lot of people who do close work, people who are using digital interfaces more, who say they can't see as well by the end of the day, but with a bit of rest, their eyes go back to normal," he said.
To have the problem continue for three months is rare, he said/
"Make sure you take breaks and let your eyes refocus," Foster advised.
kate.dubinski@sunmedia.ca
Twitter: @KateatLFPress
Smartphone makes Ontario teen go temporarily blind | Ontario | News | Toronto Su
