"Doctor, my eyes are dry and sore, and I'm a little dizzy...... What? Is it because I see too many electronic screens?" In the face of the doctor's diagnosis, Ms. Chen, 32, smiled helplessly, "I really can't help it, I have to stare at the computer during working hours, and my mobile phone is on standby at any time, not to mention scrolling Weibo and watching small videos when I relax at night......
The screen "offensive" is very harmful
Reason 1: The direct damage is large.
The direct damage to the eyeball caused by electronic screens cannot be ignored. Focusing on the screen for a long time reduces the number of blinks, which can easily lead to eye fatigue and dry eyes. The initial symptoms of these eye health problems are mild and can be easily overlooked. Prolonged use of electronics with your head down can also trigger chronic pain in your neck, shoulders, and back.
Reason 2: Long-term harm.
The blue light produced by the screens of smartphones and other electronic devices can interfere with the body's secretion of melatonin and affect the quality of sleep. Looking at your phone before bed keeps your brain active, leading to insomnia.
Some short-term studies have also shown that social media addiction is associated with changes in the messaging part of the brain, and these people tend to have lower cognitive abilities. Interestingly, there is a strong link between heavy social media use and mental illness, especially among young people.
Be aware of two major eye misconceptions
Myth 1: I can't sleep at night, and it doesn't hurt to play with my phone in bed after turning off the lights.
Try not to play! This kind of behavior can easily cause the onset of eye diseases. For example, looking at a mobile phone screen in a dark environment, due to the low ambient brightness, the person's pupils are dilated, which is easy to block the aqueous humor circulation pathway, causing acute angle-closure glaucoma.
In addition, blue light can also interfere with the secretion of melatonin, keeping the brain in a state of excitement, creating a vicious circle.
Myth 2: Put on a screen protector or turn on eye protection mode to sit back and relax.
At present, the filtering effect of blue light on the market is limited. The eye-protection mode that comes with electronic products is only by adjusting parameters such as color temperature and brightness to make the screen less dazzling. As long as you look at objects for a long time and up close, it will cause eye fatigue. For example, in the outdoor area with high brightness, using the low-light eye protection mode will aggravate the eye fatigue.
The damage of electronic screens to the eyes is long-term, chronic, and multifactorial, do not be superstitious about a certain eye care product, scientific eye protection is very important.
"Peaceful coexistence" with electronic screens
In the digital age, it seems impractical to be separated from electronic screens. So, how can we enjoy the convenience of electronics while protecting our eyes?
Practice 1: Reasonably control the duration of use and give your eyes a "holiday" on a regular basis.
In order to effectively reduce the damage caused by electronic screens to the eyes, the fundamental strategy is to pay attention to the duration of use.
The best practice for viewing an electronic screen is to look up at a distance of 6 meters (20 feet) for at least 20 seconds after looking at the screen. This is also what we often call the "20-20-20" rule. Regularly relaxing your eyes and looking at the scenery in the distance will not only effectively protect your eyes, but also make you feel good.
Practice 2: Rely on the power of science and technology to carry out supervision and feedback.
What if you can't help but want to look at your phone? Use the built-in "Do Not Disturb Mode" and "Screen Time Statistics" and other functions to monitor and analyze your own use of the phone. At the same time, some apps also have eye monitoring and rest reminders. These tools can help you get into the habit of taking regular breaks.
Method 3: Maintain the correct posture and balance elegance and health.
When using the phone, try to keep your eyes level with your eyes perpendicular to the phone screen, with your back straight and your upper body relaxed.
When looking at the computer, the distance between the eyes and the computer screen should not be less than 50 cm (about an arm's length away), and the eyes should look slightly downward, that is, the line of sight of the computer should be slightly downward, and the center of the computer screen should be about 10 cm below the line of sight of the eyes. Note that the eye gaze angle is about 15 degrees below the horizontal line of the eye.
When watching TV, the eyes are more than 3 meters away from the TV screen or 6 times the diagonal length of the TV screen, and the height of the center point of the screen is also slightly lower than the height of the eyes when the person is sitting.
Method 4: Don't be an "otaku" or "otaku", and do more outdoor activities.
Outdoor activities are the most economical and effective way to prevent myopia and protect your eyes.
Scientific studies have proven that increasing the time spent outdoors can reduce the incidence of myopia. Especially for children and adolescents, outdoor activities are not only an important means to prevent and control myopia, but also an effective way to cultivate hobbies and maintain physical and mental health. Adults should lead by example, put down their phones, and spend more time outdoors with their children.
Electronic screens have brought convenience to modern life, but they also pose a threat to people's eye health. However, as long as we adopt a scientific way of use, we can "afford" and "put it down", we can enjoy convenience while protecting our eye health.
Source: Public Health magazine
Text: Eye Hospital Affiliated to Wenzhou Medical University, Liu Xinting, Cao Yulu