How Hyderabad woman lost her eyesight by using smartphone in dark? Doctor explains

30-year-old Manju was diagnosed with blindness as she spent long hours on her phone in the dark for around one and a half years.

Hyderabad, Feb 09: A doctor from Hyderabad recently shared a health related post on the micro-blogging site Twitter that went viral but lets not forget it is also as an eye opener for all of us who are hooked to our smartphones.

In a viral Twitter thread Dr. Sudhir Kumar spoke about how a patient of his had developed vision problems due to routine behaviour patterns.

"30-year old Manju had severe disabling vision symptoms for one and half years. This included seeing floaters, bright flashes of light, dark zig zag lines and at times inability to see or focus on objects. There were moments when she could not see anything for several seconds - mostly in the night," he began by explaining the symptoms.

"Symptoms had started after she quit her job of a beautician in order to take care of her specially abled child. She picked up a new habit of browsing through her smartphone for several hours daily, including >2 hours at nights with lights switched off," he said.

Kumar said that the diagnosis was fairly 'obvious' to him after gathering this information - she was suffering from 'smartphone vision syndrome'.

Further, he did not ask for the woman to undergo tests or prescribe any medicines even though she was anxious and requested for some. "I counseled her about the possible cause for her vision impairment and suggested her to minimize the use of smartphone," the doctor said.

A month later, when Manju returned for a review, she was absolutely fine, Dr Kumar said. "Her vision impairment of 18 months had gone. Now, she had normal eyesight, and did not see any floaters or flashes of light. Moreover, her momentary loss of vision at nights also stopped. Our suspicion was proved right," he added.

So, what is Smartphone vision syndrome?

For the unversed, smartphone vision syndrome, also known as digital eye strain, is a condition that is caused by prolonged usage of digital devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers. This can lead to symptoms such as dry eyes, eye strain, blurred vision, headaches, neck and shoulder pain, and fatigue.

The causes of smartphone vision syndrome are primarily due to the close proximity of the device to the eyes, the bright screen, and the frequent shifting focus between the device and other objects.

How to reduce the symptoms of smartphone vision syndrome

To reduce the symptoms of smartphone vision syndrome, it is recommended to take frequent breaks, adjust screen brightness and contrast, hold the device farther away from the eyes, and use artificial tears to keep the eyes moisturized.