Learn about the dangers of telephones for your vision. Take the necessary precautions.
There is no denying that smartphones are part of the lives of a significant portion of the population. Regardless of age, it seems almost impossible to see someone without these devices, as they are used for work, study and entertainment. However, using them too close to the field of vision can cause some problems.
Experts say that many people, especially young people, hold their phones too close to their eyes. However, this is not good for your eyesight and can cause changes in your eye function. Keep reading to learn more about the risks that cell phones pose to your eyes.
Device may be a risk
When you're on your cell phone, your attention is so focused that you forget to blink, which can lead to dry eyes, causing symptoms such as excessive tearing, burning and itching, according to experts.
They point out that the human eye has a focusing muscle. This means that an individual can see at any distance because this muscle regulates the strength that allows us to see well. However, like any other muscle, it needs to contract and relax repeatedly. The eye muscles relax when you look away and contract when you look closer. The closer the device is, the more strain your eyes will have to put on it. This can cause changes in muscle tone that can lead to difficulty seeing farther away over a period of time (especially late at night after using the screen of your phone close up for several hours) and, later, to early myopia.
Use at night
This condition tends to get worse when a person goes to bed, especially if they use your cell phone before going to sleep. According to experts in the field, when a person goes to rest, it is usually dark and only the light from the cell phone shines directly into the eyes. In addition, the distance between the eyes and the device is shortened due to discomfort in the hands. Lying down like this, especially before sleeping, is very harmful to the eyesight.
Smartphones also pose other risks, as they emit harmful radiation called blue light. This radiation can cause several physiological changes in the body, the main cause of which is related to an imbalance in the sleep-wake cycle. Sleep awareness is disrupted, resulting in sleeping outside of normal hours, which in turn disrupts the entire physiological arrangement of the body.
And there is a second negative effect when direct light radiation hits the eyes. When we are in a dark room and our eyes are exposed to strong/direct sunlight, our eyes dry out more easily, which can cause immediate symptoms such as itchy, watery eyes, for example, as well as headaches in the forehead area.
A third negative impact has to do with distance. At night, when the eyes rest and contract throughout the day, the sleeper cannot keep their arms straight and ends up bringing the cell phone closer to their face. Therefore, the eye muscles can contract even more, causing visual disturbances of muscular origin in the short or medium term.
Experts recommend placing other light sources in the room, such as lamps, to block direct light from entering the eyes and increase the distance between the eyes and the phone. It is worth remembering that the distance considered good is with the elbow bent at 90 degrees.
Useful tips
It is well known that nowadays it is very difficult to survive without a smartphone. Considering that it is used for various activities, such as entertainment, work and study, experts point out some caveats when using it. excessive use of the device. One of them is to wear glasses while using the phone, regardless of your prescription level.
Another way to reduce the adverse effects on your vision is a very simple exercise called 20-20 that you can do at home. Stop every 20 minutes while using your phone (computer or any activity that involves close vision) and look into the distance for 20 seconds. This should be enough to relax your eye muscles and reduce the risk of possible symptoms.
