by Cristina Marrone
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 too much time in front of the screen can affect the health of our eyes. Not only the time spent in front of the cell phone represents a danger, but also looking at the screen too closely, less than 30 centimeters. How many times do you see children, even very young ones, with a smartphone in their hands completely absorbed in 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
Beyond the psychological aspects, this behavior is not harmless to the health of our eyes. For younger people, bad habits increase the risk of myopia. Adults strain their eyesight and in the long run run the risk of becoming cross-eyed. And the possibility is anything but remote, for adults and children, as explained by Paolo Nucci, Full Professor of Ophthalmology at the State University of Milan who explains how in the last ten years the cases of strabismus have increased dramatically among young people precisely due to a abuse of close range activity. Visual fatigue is the result of excessive effort. Focusing is 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 placed objects. at different distances. An adult who works very closely has two problems: he tires the ciliary muscle, which continually contracts to allow the lens to focus. Furthermore, those who use close-up vision very frequently, particularly the short-sighted, use the internal muscles that converge the eye much more than the external ones. This hyperactivity of convergence risks resulting in what is called normal sensorial esotropia of the myopic, a form of strabismus that 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. The convergence activity, when working at less than 30 centimetres, is functional for near vision; however, it is devastating for distance vision. In fact, what happens – explains the ophthalmologist – is that by exaggerating the convergence to see very close up you will end up with converging eyes even when seeing from afar, when the eyes, instead of converging, should work in parallel. The consequence over the years is diplopia, or double vision 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 you risk becoming cross-eyed and having 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”. Once the situation stabilizes, surgery may be necessary. 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 the abnormal growth of the eyeball, in 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 from the screen function into iPhones, active by default for children under 13 who are part of the family group. The iPhone warns you when you hold the phone less than 30 centimeters from your eyes for long periods, prompting you to move it away to 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 caused by 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 Addictions) which for some time, in various capacities, have launched a warning to world 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 | 3:08 pm)
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