What is the most common scenario if one casually observes people of various age groups: waiting at a bus station, railway station or airport, sitting in a café or a restaurant, or even in functions? One will see all of them watching their mobile phones. Whether it is communicating with friends and relatives on WhatsApp, surfing on Facebook, using Instagram and Twitter, playing video games, or watching OTT movies; usage of mobiles is all-pervasive, ubiquitous, and universal. The average screen time in adults is 5–7 hours daily (laptops, desktops, tablets, and mobiles) and even in children it is rising at an alarming rate.
For some professions like IT, screen time is a necessity. For a few others like students, who have to take online classes and tuitions, it is invariable. For others, where it is not essential, one should aim to reduce screen time as far as possible as it can cause different eye problems.
In children, many studies have shown that a screen time of 1 to 4 hours daily can cause and worsen myopia (near-sightedness or minus number of glasses). As mobile phones have a small screen, their usage requires the eyes to accommodate to focus on close-up objects, leading to severe eye strain and myopia. The solution is that parents should strictly limit screen time of their children to less than one hour daily. Encourage outdoor activities and sports for recreation. Avoid continuous screen usage and limit screen brightness. Regular eye examination in children, especially before they start school and annually thereafter, is essential.
For adults, prolonged screen time can cause insomnia, depression, addictive behaviour, obesity due to reduced physical activity, headaches, neck and back pain.
Specific eye problems like irritation, watering, blurry vision, headache, and neck pain constitute what is now called “Computer Vision Syndrome” or “Digital Eye Strain.”
The solutions to reduce Computer Vision Syndrome are:
- Take a short break after 20 minutes and look away from the screen at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
- Blink frequently: there is a tendency to stare and not blink when we work on computers, leading to ocular surface dryness.
- Adjust screen settings to reduce glare.
- Keep the computer at an arm’s length (length of elbow).
- Sit straight with back support and arm support. Screen should be 15 degrees lower than the eye level.
- Avoid AC blast on the face or sitting underneath a fan, as evaporation leads to dry eyes. Maintain adequate room lighting and humidity.
- Try to take a break of 5 minutes every hour, walk or stretch your arms and legs.
- Drink adequate water.
- Use of lubricant eye drops or artificial tears helps in IT professionals who have more than 8 hours screen time daily.
- Blue light emitted from screens can cause discomfort and eye strain. Blue-cut or UV block lenses in spectacles and the use of anti-glare screens on computers help. Adjust screen contrast and brightness of computers to comfortable levels. Positive display polarity (dark characters on light background) helps.
Dr. Nitant Shah , a highly esteemed ophthalmologist, holds multiple qualifications including MS, DNB, FCPS, DOMS, MBBS, MRCS (Edinburgh, UK), FNB (Retina), and FMRF (Fellow Vitreo-Retinal Surgery, Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai). He completed his M.B.B.S from BJ Medical College, University of Pune, in 1997, graduating with a gold medal in his final exams. He further specialized in ophthalmology, obtaining an MS from Sion Hospital, University of Mumbai in 2000, where he also earned a gold medal. Additionally, he was awarded gold medals for DOMS and FCPS in ophthalmology from CPS, Mumbai, and completed his DNB in ophthalmology the same year. In 2006, Dr. Shah achieved his MRCS from Edinburgh, UK.
