2 weeks Ago By Firstpost
In an era where screen time has become an integral part of daily life, concerns about digital eye health, especially among children, are on the rise. Firstpost spoke to pediatric eye specialists Dr. Varshini Shanker and Dr.
Sumedha Sharma from Shroff Eye Centre (Delhi) to understand the impact of prolonged screen exposure and how to safeguard our children’s eyesight. Dr Varshini Shanker: We are seeing a lot of patients complaining about this actually- and some are very young. Think of your eyes like any other muscle- If you overuse them, they get tired.
The most common signs of digital eye strain are: Dryness: Your eyes feel gritty like there is sand in them. Headaches: Especially around your forehead or temples. Blurred vision: Things might look fuzzy or unclear.
Eye fatigue: Your eyes feel heavy and tired; you may have some trouble focussing your eyes sometimes. Neck and shoulder pain: Because we are all slouching over our devices and have poor posture while looking at screens. We also frequently see young children presenting with episodes of severe blinking, squeezing, rolling and abnormal eye movements.
These are secondary to dryness and excessive digital gadget use. The symptoms resolve on discontinuing gadget use and using lubricant eye drops. It’s important to recognise these signs early- these are reversible.
So if you experience these regularly after screen use, it’s time to take action. Dr. Sumedha Sharma: Yes, those who work long hours on screens, can try these tips to reduce eye strain.
Frequent screen breaks: The 20-20-20 Rule: Every 20-30 minutes, take a 20-second break to look at something 20 feet away. This helps relax the focusing muscles of the eye. T ake Regular Breaks: Don’t just rely on the 20-20-20 rule.
Prolonged sitting is bad for overall health, so get up and move around every hour. Take a short walk, go talk to some friends, stretch, or simply look out a window. Blink Frequently: We tend to blink less when staring at screens, leading to dry eyes.
Make a conscious effort to blink regularly. Optimise Your Workspace: ○ Adjust lights so that they aren’t directly in your eyes all the time. ○ Position your monitor at arm’s length, about 20-24 inches away, and slightly below eye level.
This minimizes strain on your neck and eyes. ○ Don’t sit in the direct blast of an Air-conditioner or heater. ○ Ensure chair and desk height are optimised for good posture.
Adjust Screen Settings: ○ Increase the font size to reduce strain. ○ Reduce screen brightness and prevent reflections of light on your screen. ○ Consider using the “night mode” or “warm light” settings, especially in the evening, to reduce blue light exposure, which can affect sleep.
Hydrate & Nourish: Drink enough water daily. And eat healthy- this will help maintain overall health- which impacts eye health. Avoid contact lenses: These add to discomfort for those who work long hours on screens.
Exercise : Long screen use also means you are sitting or lying down for a long time. This is very bad for health (and thus eye health). You need to get exercise daily.
WHO recommends a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise 5 times a week. Artificial Tears: Lubricating eye drops can help reduce dryness and discomfort. If you have persistent irritation, please do get seen by an eye specialist.
For persistent dry eye, at Shroff Eye Centre we use advanced technology like Lipiview and keratography to check if your tear film is the problem, your tear-producing glands or your blinking. Sleep enough: less sleep worsens eye fatigue & dry eye. Regular Eye Exams: Even if you don’t have any eye problems, you must get at least one comprehensive eye exam once a year.
This is very important for children’s eyes. We need to detect and treat problems that don’t have any symptoms- like glaucoma- early. Dr Varshini Shanker: We have seen quite a spike in Myopia (near-sightedness) and Dry eye actually.
There are studies that are projecting that nearly half the world’s population could be myopic by 2050. This is alarming. One of the major contributing factors is increased near work- particularly screen time, and a decrease in outdoor activity.
Studies have shown that this myopia can be slowed down by increasing outdoor activity in children. Why this happens- there is research ongoing. Dry eye is a big problem in children and adults! When we stare at screens and concentrate- we forget to blink.
Blinking spreads tears over the surface of our eye and stops it from drying out. Also, we are often sitting next to heaters and air conditioners when we are using screens. This combination of less blinking and dry air worsens dry eyes.
Dr Varshini Shanker: Not as many children will develop myopia. And the rate of increase in eye power is slower. Genetics also plays a part in myopia.
If someone in your immediate family has myopia, your risk of myopia is higher. When children use screens a lot, or do a lot of near work- and do not get enough outdoor activity - this risk of developing myopia increases. And in those who have myopia already- their risk of becoming high myopes is higher with high screen use- that means high minus numbers.
Dr Sumedha Sharma: Screen time should be as little as possible. For children under 2 years, we strongly recommend NO screen time. For children 2-5 years, limit screen time to about 1 hour per day.
For children 6-10 years, we recommend restricting screen time to under 2 hours, setting consistent limits and encouraging breaks. Older children now have school work- so it may be difficult to restrict screen use. However social screen use should be minimised.
Set screen time limits and also encourage frequent breaks from screen. Encourage children to take screen breaks and blink. Every 20 or 30 minutes- get up, walk around, have a sip of water - or even just look at a faraway object for some time.
And of course, insist they do some outdoor activity daily. Dr Sumedha Sharma: Outdoor activity in natural daylight slows down Myopia. Science still doesn’t fully understand why this happens- but we have some recent studies which show a decrease in the number of children developing myopia when outdoor activity is increased.
We recommend children get 1-2 hours of outdoor activity daily. This does not mean looking at your phone or reading a book in the park, by the way! It’s also a great way of getting exercise and Vitamin D. Both are essential for overall health, including eye health.
But please do NOT stare directly at the SUN. Many people believe doing this will stop myopia- it does not. In fact, it causes retina burns and can damage your eyesight permanently.
Dr Varshini Shanker: Blue light is a complex issue. While it can disrupt sleep patterns, its direct impact on retinal damage is still being studied. We don’t have conclusive evidence that blue light from screens causes long-term eye damage in the way UV light does.
However, many people who work long hours on screens, find that blue light filters help them with digital eye strain. You can just turn on the blue light filter or comfort mode on your device. Blue light filtering glasses do not provide any additional or special benefit.
Dr. Varshini Shanker: Maintaining good eyesight needs a holistic approach- a combination of a good diet and lifestyle. Here’s what we recommend to our patients at Shroff Eye Centre: Balanced Diet: People believe that just eating carrots is excellent for the eye.
But only eating carrots will not help much. Green leafy vegetables, fruit, a variety of proteins and a variety of good fats, complex carbohydrates you need it all. There is no one special thing you need to eat for eye health- you need to eat a balanced diet.
We aren’t saying never eat junk or ultra-processed food- but these should be eaten minimally. What is good for your overall health, is good for your eyes. And drink enough water! Lifestyle Changes: ○ Protect Your Eyes from UV Radiation: Wear sunglasses that block UVA and UVB rays.
○ Exercise regularly: This promotes overall health, including eye health. It also helps keep stress, diabetes and high blood pressure under control. Both diabetes and high blood pressure are bad for your eyesight.
○ Move more: If your job involves sitting a lot, learn to take regular short breaks every hour to walk and stretch for a few minutes. Prolonged Sitting is bad for health and increases the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes. Sitting is the new smoking! ○ Avoid Smoking: Smoking significantly increases the risk of cataracts, AMD, and optic nerve damage.
○ Don’t use screens for 1 hour before bed: Put that device away. Screens disrupt our sleep- and they are adding to your screen time and dry eye. ○ Sleep well: Get adequate sleep every night.
○ Manage stress**:** Exercise, yoga, meditation, therapy, talking to friends- learn to manage your stress levels. These impact overall health. They may also worsen dry eye as many of us use screens more to manage stress.
○ Regular Eye Exams**:** This is essential for early detection and treatment of eye diseases. Dr. Sumedha Sharma: India faces unique challenges as we have a large young and older population and not as large a healthcare force- and There are too few ophthalmologists for our population.
Diabetic Retinopathy: India has the largest number of diabetics in the world. Our outdoor activity is reducing and food habits are changing and becoming more westernised in urban areas. This worsens diabetes and increases the risk of diabetic retinopathy, a leading cause of blindness.
Cataracts : While cataract surgery is becoming more accessible, it remains a major cause of visual impairment, particularly in rural areas. Increased Myopia: As we discussed, the incidence and prevalence of myopia is rising sharply, especially among children and young adults due to increased screen time and reduced outdoor activity. This is a very large concern in urban areas.
High myopia also can cause retina problems. This increases the healthcare burden. Dry Eye Disease: We already are seeing a lot of dry eye- especially in Delhi NCR.
Other than prolonged screen use, air pollution worsens dry eye. In fact, even this spring we are seeing a lot of people with red eyes at Shroff Eye Centre - of course, this is allergic conjunctivitis which mimics dry eye. Basically a lot of eye irritants in Delhi air most of the year round.
Ocular Surface Diseases: Urban pollution will contribute to a rise in ocular surface diseases, including allergies and infections. Pollution-related eye issues are predominant during winter months. Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD): With an aging population, AMD will become more prevalent, leading to significant vision loss.
Access to affordable and specialised eye care remains a big problem- especially in rural India. It will become more challenging as our population ages but the number of ophthalmologists doesn’t increase. This is why we must focus on prevention of eye health problems as far as possible.
