Ophthalmologist Dr Ravindra Mohan explains the potential risks of prolonged screen exposure and how excessive screen use in the dark can affect your eyes.
Using a mobile phone in the dark, especially at night, has become a very common habit.
Most of us check our messages before going to sleep.
We scroll through social media while lying in bed or sneak in one last look at our phones before we sleep. And if a notification wakes us up in the middle of the night, many of us instinctively reach for the phone, staring at the bright screen.
While this habit is unlikely to cause permanent damage to healthy eyes, prolonged screen use in the dark can leave your eyes strained, dry and uncomfortable.
The problem becomes more pronounced when this becomes a nightly routine, with hours spent scrolling before one sleeps.
There are a few common mistakes I have noticed, which I wanted to share with everyone:
1. Using the phone in complete darkness
Many people use their phones with all the lights switched off in the room.
In this situation, the contrast between a bright screen and the dark background is very high.
Your eyes have to keep adjusting between light and dark, which makes them tired very quickly.
It is better to keep a soft, dim light on in the room rather than using the phone in pitch darkness.
2. Keeping screen brightness at maximum
Another common habit is keeping the brightness at 100 per cent, even at night.
A very bright screen in a dark room feels glaring and increases strain.
The brightness should be adjusted to a comfortable level depending on the surroundings.
At night, a lower brightness is much easier on the eyes.
3. Scrolling continuously for hours
Checking the phone for two minutes is very different from scrolling continuously for two to three hours.
Prolonged, uninterrupted use of the phone/tablet is the main reason for digital eye strain.
Taking short breaks in between is important.
Even looking away for a few seconds helps the eyes relax.
4. Not blinking enough
When we concentrate on a screen, we blink much less than usual.
Less blinking means your eyes will dry out faster.
This can cause burning, irritation, temporary blurring of vision and headache.
People who already have dry eye symptoms feel it more.
Blinking consciously helps.
A simple habit to follow is the 20-20-20 rule -- after every 20 minutes of screen use, look at something about 20 feet away for about 20 seconds.
5. Holding the phone too close or keeping text too small
Holding the phone very close to your face or reading with a very small font makes the eyes work harder to focus. This adds to the strain.
Maintaining a comfortable distance and increasing the text size slightly can reduce this effort.
Can blue-light glasses help reduce eye strain?
Many patients ask about blue-light glasses. Though they are widely used now, they are not essential or helpful in many cases.
At present, there is no strong evidence that normal blue-light exposure from smartphones causes permanent damage to healthy eyes.
In fact, good screen habits have proven to be more effective.
There is also a lot of discussion online about temporary blindness from using phones in the dark.
There is a rare phenomenon called transient smartphone blindness. It has been reported in people who lie on their side in the dark, with one eye covered by a pillow and the other looking at a bright screen.
They may experience a brief, painless loss of vision in one eye.
This happens because the two eyes adapt differently to light and darkness.
In such situations, vision usually returns on its own after a short time. It is not permanent blindness.
However, any sudden, persistent, recurring or painful loss of vision should never be assumed to be due to phone use alone and should be evaluated promptly.
Occasional use of the phone at night is not a cause for worry. But prolonged use every night, in complete darkness, with high brightness and without breaks, can leave the eyes dry and strained.
If you have to use the phone at night, keeping a dim light on, reducing brightness, maintaining distance and taking regular breaks can make your viewing experience more comfortable.
If there is persistent blurred vision, significant dryness, eye pain or any episode of vision loss, it is advisable to get your eyes examined.
Disclaimer: All content and media herein is written and published online for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice. It should not be relied on as your only source for advice.
Please always seek the guidance of your doctor or a qualified health professional with any questions you may have regarding your health or a medical condition. Do not ever disregard the advice of a medical professional, or delay in seeking it because of something you have read herein.
If you believe you may have a medical or mental health emergency, please call your doctor, go to the nearest hospital, or call emergency services or emergency helplines immediately. If you choose to rely on any information provided herein, you do so solely at your own risk.
Opinions expressed herein cannot necessarily provide advice to fit the exact specifics of the issues of the person requesting advice.
