Can Your Smartphone Temporarily Impair Your Vision?
Scientists suggest that temporarily losing vision might be linked to the habit of checking your smartphone immediately after waking up or before going to sleep.
Do you find yourself reaching for your smartphone right after waking up or just before bedtime? You might be interested to learn that this habit could be causing significant strain on your eyes.
Recently, in the United Kingdom, two intriguing cases of temporary vision loss were documented. Both women reported similar symptoms: one experienced brief vision problems immediately upon waking, while the other faced vision issues just before falling asleep. Medical experts connected these incidents to smartphone use, noting that lying on your side in bed with a phone close to your eyes can trigger temporary vision disturbances.
The New England Journal of Medicine published a detailed report on these cases.
The first patient was a 22-year-old woman who complained of losing vision in her right eye during nighttime. This occurred several times a week over the span of a year, but her vision would quickly return to normal. After finally consulting a doctor, thorough examinations including blood vessel checks and heart assessments revealed no abnormalities. Despite appearing perfectly healthy, she continued to experience these transient vision losses.
The second case involved a 40-year-old woman who described similar symptoms: losing sight in one eye immediately after waking up for about 15 minutes. This pattern persisted for six months, yet medical evaluations showed no signs of illness or eye disease.
Doctors investigated possible causes for this temporary vision loss. Upon further questioning, they identified a common factor: both women had been looking at their smartphone screens while lying on their sides, often with one eye partially covered by a pillow.
Medical professionals concluded that these episodes were linked to the contrast in light exposure between the two eyes. The eye covered by the pillow adapted to darkness, while the exposed eye adjusted to the bright light emitted by the smartphone screen. When the screen was turned off, the eye accustomed to brightness temporarily struggled to see until it readjusted.
To test their hypothesis, the doctors conducted experiments on themselves. Although they did not develop temporary blindness, they noticed some reduction in vision clarity in one eye after brief smartphone use in similar conditions.
Researchers anticipate that as smartphone and gadget screen brightness continues to increase and people become more reliant on these devices, cases of temporary vision loss may rise.
We shared these two cases to assist other medical professionals in making quicker diagnoses and to help patients avoid unnecessary worry and expensive tests.
Researchers studying temporary vision loss
If you notice similar symptoms, try to break the habit of viewing screens with just one eye. If that’s difficult, at least reduce your screen brightness. The long-term effects on the retina remain unclear, so it’s better to be cautious.
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