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One London teen, after binge-watching her favourite Netflix programs on her smartphone, looked up and realized she couldn’t see — her eyesight was so bad, she was legally blind. It sounds like an urban legend, but it happened to the teen this past summer. “Her eyes were over-focusing and spasming, and the eye doctor told her she had to stop using her phone to watch Netflix and to read and for Facebook,” said Rene Boucher, whose 16-year-old daughter was legally blind at the height of her problem. Dr. Christina Schropp, Boucher’s daughter’s optometrist, said she’s seeing more patients with similar problems. “We’re seeing a lot more of it as people use their phones to watch videos and do everything else,” she said. “That kind of visual stimulation from a small screen over a long time — the ciliary muscle has to bend to focus, and the closer the object is, the more it has to bend.
originally posted by: DrakeINFERNO
a reply to: HIWATT
i remember i always used to hear "watch too much tv and you will go blind" as a kid. now every kid has a portable tv.
Well, let me tell you - your eyes set wherever you've been using them. I was doing a lot of real close work during the years my lens hardened the last of the way, and I stuck with mid-range to close-in vision. It happens to kids, too, you get accommodative spasm, and your eyes will "stick" at cell phone distance given time. There are ways to reduce that, wearing reading glasses to use the phone will keep your eyes from pulling in the focus so tightly, also 'sunning' will help keep your eyes from elongating to meet the perceived demand for a lot of close work.
originally posted by: HIWATT
It makes a lot of sense to watch TV on your phone, when it's likely you have a big screen in your living room.
/sarcasm
I know people who $pend on data plans to watch hockey on their phones... same thing... big huge LCD just sitting in their living room.
It's a status thing I believe, like "look what I can do on my phone!"
meh. Not surprising it would affect your sight after a while. I would think computers would have the same affect but at least your average laptop screen is what, 15" ?.... not 3 or 4.
originally posted by: DrakeINFERNO
a reply to: HIWATT
i remember i always used to hear "watch too much tv and you will go blind" as a kid. now every kid has a portable tv.