Looking at cell phones too closely accelerates myopia in young people. In adults there is a risk of strabismus and double vision. The ophthalmologists are alarmed by the abuse of close-up activity
The smartphone has long been an indispensable tool for carrying out various activities, but spending time too much time in front of the screen can affect the health of our eyes. It’s not just the time spent in front of the cell phone that poses a danger, it does look at the screen too closely, less than 30 centimetres. How many times do you see children, even very young ones, with a smartphone in their hand completely absorbed by a cartoon or a video game very close to the screen, almost as if they were swallowed up by it?
Tired focus: what convergence hyperactivity is
This is beyond the psychological aspects harmless behavior for the health of our eyes. For the most youngthe bad habit increases the risk of
myopia
. Adults tire their eyesight and in the long run this becomes a riskr
And
cross-eyed
. And the possibility is anything but remote, for adults and children, as he explains Paolo NucciFull Professor of Ophthalmology at the State University of Milan who explains how in the last ten years the cases of strabismus due to abuse of close-up activity. Visual fatigue is the result of excessive effort. Focusing on a very tiring activity – explains Paolo Nucci, who is also President of the Italian Society of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus – particularly for adults, since children are great “accommodators” and more capable of focusing on objects placed at different distances. An adult who works very closely has two problems: tires the ciliary musclewhich is continually contracting to allow the crystal clear to put on fire. Furthermore, those who use close vision very frequently, particularly the short-sighted, use much more the internal muscles that make the eye converge, compared to the external ones. This convergence hyperactivity risks resulting in what is defined Normosensory esotropia of the myopica form of strabismus which also affects adults.
The risk is strabismus and double vision
We are not aware of the continuous close activity, which is often not perceived at all. Yet the damage can really be significant. L’convergence activitieswhen working on less than 30 centimetres, functional for near vision; however, it turns out devastating for distance vision. In fact, it happens – explains the ophthalmologist – that we exaggerate with convergence to see very close up you will remain with your eyes converging even when viewing from afar, when the eyes, instead of converging, should work in parallel. The consequence over the years diplopiaor the v
double ision from afar. Those who pay the most serious consequences are short-sighted people, who today represent an important portion of the population. Those who are short-sighted, in fact, tend to work very closely and in the end “give in”, becoming convergent even when looking far away, beyond six metres.
The acceleration of myopia for younger people
In this way we risk becoming cross-eyed and have double vision from afar. In the early stages this condition is reversible, but when it consolidates from afar you can no longer see it, and you end up living in a convergent world, in a world that is entirely “up close”. When the situation stabilizes, it may be necessary tosurgery. In children, very close vision is a stimulus to myopization. When you look very closely, the central parts of the eye come into focus, but not the peripheral ones: this condition is a stimulus for abnormal growth of the eyeballin other words myopization adds Nucci.
The Apple distance from the screen function
Just recently, with Apple’s IOS 17 update, the American company, for the first time, introduced the distance function from the screenactive by default for children under 13 who are part of the family group. The iPhone warns you when you hold the phone closer than 30 centimeters from your eyes for long periods, inviting him to move away at arm’s length. The aim is to remind younger users to adopt healthier visual habits so as to reduce the risk of myopia. It offers adults the opportunity to reduce eye strain due to digital devices. Apple’s choice was welcomed by the World Society of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, by the Italian Society of Ophthalmology and Strabismus and by the Di.Te Association (National Association of Technological Dependencies) which for some time, in various capacities, have launched a warning on a global level on the problem. Apple’s acknowledgment of our alarm – concludes Nucci – is a victory for the world’s pediatric ophthalmologists who have been taking sides for a long time against the abnormal spread of the close use of electronic devices.
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December 5, 2023 (changed December 5, 2023 | 07:11)
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