Very skärmtid gives children the 40-year-olds eye problems

It has long been known to academics hanging over their books for hours at a time strained the eyes so that they got headaches. Tony Pansell is optometrist, associate professor and senior lecturer and takes, inter alia, against children who are sent on a referral from the nurses. They have a headache and hard to keep up in school and now it is not books without the constant stare at the screens that is the culprit. The youngest children are as young as six, seven years.

today it is so bad that we see young children with ”akademikerögon” — headaches and eye strain.

staring long at a screen at close range is the so-called false myopia. The eye spans and krampar that it can't relax and the eye's focus remains on the near distance.

- If you see blurry at a distance, and have a headache, we suspect false myopia and ögonkramp. We tend to ask if you wake up with a headache or if it comes during the day. Synhuvudvärk will during the day and releases if you look away.

Even more common is the opposite, that the eye longer. This, many people feel middle-aged again – suddenly you get to keep everything with outstretched arms and use reading glasses to see clearly. But Tony Pansells patients have far left to middle age.

" We treat children as if they were 20-30 years older.

Tony Pansell is careful to stress that this is not about damage but a temporarily upset the system and that it is easy to treat. But both situations are unpleasant for the children.

– It affects quality of life and visual function and makes it more difficult to keep up with school. The headache may become less concentrated.

– the Problem is that many people go around and think that it is normal for many others in the class also have pain in the head. Many children realize that the discomfort associated with the screens, but is terrified to get rid of skärmtiden.

the Treatment is simple – kids get reading glasses with strength of +1 and a month later is most of the good again. Often are also being discussed with the children and their parents about how much you want to sit in front of the screen.

distance can also have long-term consequences.

" When you look at the close-range ports, the picture is naturally a little behind the eye. It happens if you looked very very closely is that the eye starts to grow to the image to compensate, then, the eye is no longer round, but elongated. That is the myopia, the eye is too long when it is adapted to near vision, and you see blurry at a distance.

When the eye continues to grow becoming ögonväggen thinner and it increases the risk of retinal detachment and glaucoma as you get older, illnesses, which in turn, can lead to blindness. In some asian countries, 80 percent of them myopic and 20 per cent of them severely myopic. In Asia, the problem is so large that the world health organization (WHO) has classified it as an epidemic.

In Sweden and Europe, one cannot speak of an epidemic, but närsyntheten spread out even here. You do not yet know exactly what it depends on, but clearly that time in front of the screen will have an impact on vision.

There is no exact science about what is too much time in front of the screen. Tony Pansell advocate common sense, not to sit hours with the screen.

– Should a six-year-old sit with the screen in the couch for several hours – no. Should we completely ban screens – no. I had been a software developer, I had developed an app that did that the screen was shut down every five minutes so that you will have to take a break.

outdoors. Sunlight with UV radiation to release the substances in the retina that prevents the eye grows in length. Therefore, it is also important that children go out at playtime in school, and not sitting inside with the cell phone. In addition, do not hold the screen too close to your eyes, the science shows it increases the risk for long-term effects.

For adults who can take responsibility for their skärmstirrande he recommends the 20-20-20 rule. Every twenty minutes take a twenty second break and look twenty feet away.

" Take a break, look out into infinity. And if you have a problem, seek the help of an optometrist.