Smartphones can damage the eyes and cause disturbed sleep. Therefore, Natural Eye Care has issued safety guidelines for smartphones. We have summarized research on how smartphone misuse could contribute to the onset of serious eye diseases such as glaucoma and macular degeneration. Eye strain and discomfort from improper smartphone habits create unnecessary suffering. Night time smartphone use leads to poor sleep.
However, there is much you can do to prevent problems from smartphones. At the end of this article, you will find suggestions for how to use smartphones without damaging your eyes. For example, keeping the phone farther away from your face is better. Your phone has a built-in report about your usage. Additionally, you can teach loved ones habits that help preserve healthy vision.
Symptoms of Smartphone Eye Damage
The symptoms of smart phone damage are the same as the symptoms for Computer Vision Syndrome:
- eye strain
- eyes feel dry, itchy, or stinging
- blurred vision
- headache, neck, or shoulder pain
- seeing double
- trouble concentrating
- fatigue
Additionally, blue light emitted from screens can interfere with sleep. The sun provides blue light, telling our body to wake up. Blue light from screens in the evening keep us awake. The sleep hormone melatonin does not get produced in sufficient amounts, preventing us from falling asleep and getting sound sleep.
Excessive exposure to blue light over many years, from sources such as sunlight, computer screens, and smartphones, can contribute to or even cause eye diseases like as macular degeneration.
Excessive screen use is associated with serious eye diseases, including glaucoma 1 and Macular Degeneration.2
While these diseases mostly strike the elderly, a lifetime of bad vision habits causes cumulative damage. Eye disease prevention should be practiced at all ages.
