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KIDS FACING RISKS TO THEIR EYES FROM TOO MUCH SCREEN TIME

Doctor’s say that children who stare at a screen for more than 3 to 3.5 hours every day are at a higher risk of developing dry eyes, which is a symptom of digital

When 14-year-old Risabh began to complain of eye pain and frequent headaches, his parent took him to an eye doctor presuming he needed glasses. The final diagnosis though showed that Risabh due to prolonged exposure to multiple screens while studying and playing was suffering from digital eye strain,  a  condition that was previously associated with computer software professionals but is now being increasingly diagnosed among young adults and teenagers

Varsha, a collegian from Thane, had watery eyes and right-side and headache when she was diagnosed with digital eye strain (DES), also called computer vision syndrome or visual fatigue. For thousands like Rishabh and Varsha, the eye-fatigue diagnosis came after they had spent Covid pandemic hooked on to online recreation as well as daily online school. Hours of online class, combined with hours of mobile chats and computer games, are to blame, say doctors.

A POST-COVID EPIDEMIC

“The human eye functions similarly to a camera with autofocus capabilities. It contains small muscles called ciliary muscles that have the ability to contract and relax. This action allows the eye to adjust its focus, enabling us to clearly see objects at various distances,” said senior ophthalmologist Dr Sonia Nankani of Krishna Eye Centre, Parel. The strain of watching a digital screen for hours could at times lead to “convergence insufficiency”, a condition in which it is difficult for the eyes to work together when looking at nearby objects. “Essentially, the strain caused by digital exposure causes symptoms of Asthenopia like headache and dull pain around the eyes she said

She noticed a surge in the number of children coming in with “convergence insufficiency since the Covid pandemic ended. They come with complaints of pain and itching sensation in the eyes, dry eyes a es and headaches. “In some children, DES is associated with shoulder pain as well,” she said.

Dr Harshwardhan Ghorpade from Fortis Hiranandani Hospital, Vashi, said, “The age group that I have treated for digital strain are within the ages of 3-16 years. The number of ca- ses has increased by almost 40% to 50% since Covid.”

SOME COMMON CAUSES OF DIGITAL EYE STRAIN INCLUDE

  • Blinking less while using a device
  • Viewing a screen at an
  • Improper distance or angle
  • Using a device with glare or reflection Using a device with poor contrast between the text and the

 

DAILY 3-HOUR THRESHOLD

There are no statistics available on the total number of children with digital eve strain, but doctors say that those who stare at an electronic screen for more than 3 to 3.5 hours every day are at a higher risk of developing dry eyes, which is a symptom of digital eye strain. The US Digital Eye Strain Report of 2016 looked at 10,000 adults a und self-reported prevalence of 65%, with females more commonly affected than males.

A study from Gujarat published in the Indian Journal of  Ophthalmology, earlier this year said that increased and continuous exposure to display devices such as computer screens, laptops, tablets, and smart phones for various activities have led to higher incidence of dry eyes in adults, with an estimated prevalence of near 50% for those using devices for long hours. However, dry eye disease is often overlooked in children, or attributed to allergies or infections.

“Several studies report an incidence of 6%-10% of dry eyes-among school-going children and link this to an increase in smartphone use time.

Recently, Rojas-Carabull et al reported a 33% incidence of dry eye in 60 apparently healthy children bet ween 7 and 17 years of age and attributed this to increased screen time,” said the study.

An actual study among undergraduate medical students in Madurai showed the overall DES prevalence at 11%. However, the study published last year int the International Journal of Academic Medicine and Pharma cy’, found that 39.4% of the students had one or more of the symptoms resulted to DES

“The most common symptom  reported was headache (42,540 followed by eye strain (37%) & neck/shoulder/back pain (37%). Smartphones were the predominant primary device, more than half have been using years & mobiles for more than 10 54.2% of the students spent a significant amount of screen time at night time,” said the study.

TO REDUCE THE RISK OF DIGITAL EYE STRAIN, TRY THE FOLLOWING TIPS

  •  Adjust your workspace

  • Position your monitor slightly below eye level, about 20 to 28 inches away from your face. You can also try reducing glare by moving your monitor, closing shades, or using a glare filter

  • Take breaks

  • Follow the 20-20-20 rule: look away from the screen every 20 minutes and look at something around 20 feet away y for about 20 seconds

  • Blink often. Blinking helps keep your eyes moist. If they feel dry, you can try using artificial tears

  • Adjust your screen. Try eye exercises

‘Headache among most common symptoms of Digital Eye Strain’

Ironically, the treatment for DES that hundreds of youngsters like Risabh and Varsha have undergone e at the Krishna Eye Centre is based on computers. Dr Sonia and Dr Gul Nankani digitised the age-old orthoptics, an allied field comprising eye movement and binocular vision and the non-surgical treatment of visual disorders to come up with Bynocs. “We came up with Bynocs to treat lazy eye or amblyopia (which occurs when the brain does not perceive the signal from the eye),” she said. It comprises a series of digital games and activities that train the eyes to see better with the lazy eye; at the moment, Bynocs for amblyopia is awaiting US FDA clearance, but is being used in Europe, Singapore, Latin America and India.

A few years back, the Nankani s and clinical optometrist Md Oliullah Abdal came up with the Bynocs DeStrain version to treat DES. They conducted a study among 7,000 IT professionals a found that the ‘digital exercises” helped them and started offering it at their clinic for a fee. Renu, who was diagnosed with DES earlier this year, underwent 10 online sessions and no longer suffers from “right eye pain” and daily headaches. “The effect of the DES treatment lasts for 18 to 24 months,” said the doctors.

Dr. Sandra Ganesh, a pediatric ophthalmologist at Aravind Eye Hospital in Coimbatore, has used Bynocs for children with DES. “There are a few other eye institutes such as Sankara Nethralaya across India that have developed such digitised therapy for DES,” she said. “We are seeing an increasing incidence of DES among children, but exercises make a big difference. They also have to follow other rules such as taking breaks from the screen every 20 minutes,” she added.

Reference :

https://epaper.indiatimes.com/article-share?article=17_11_2024_001_007_vkmmir_Mirror