Eye strain in young people rising due to increased screen use

Opticians say they are seeing a rise in cases of short sightedness and eye strain among young professionals and school children due to constant exposure to screens.

Triona Culliton, President of the Association of Optometrists Ireland (AOI) said they are "finding people are needing glasses earlier that you might expect".

Ms Culliton, who is a practicing optician in Co Wicklow, said the influence of long concentrated exposure to screens is increasing cases of early short sightedness in young people.

“I’m finding with a lot of young people, they’ve been in college, they have their first job, and are spending long hours on the screen.

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“They find when they come out of work at the end of the day, they can’t actually see the numbers of the buses on the road.

“They can see the bus number in the distance when they arrive to work, but they can’t see it at the end of the day” she said.

This temporary myopia or short sightedness is caused by constantly working with screens for long periods of time, Ms Culliton said.

The work puts a strain on the muscles in the eyes.

“After work when they are going home on the train they’re looking at their phone and emails, they’re reading a book on their phone” she said.

The increased pressure on local opticians and hospital eye specialists has seen a rise in waiting lists.

Latest figures show 13,000 people are waiting for an eye care procedure or operation, and 34,000 in Ireland are waiting for an appointment.

The AOI have said growing waiting lists are “putting patients at very serious risk,” and it will only get worse as demand for services grows in the coming years.

Fiona Kavanagh, an optician who works in Thurles, Co Tipperary, said she has seen a rise in sight problems among school children over prolonged use of screens.

Children and young people are needing “corrections more regularly, just to get rid of the constant small eye strain that builds up over time”.

Derville Pitcher, a senior optometrist who has a clinic in North county Dublin said she is also seeing a spike in the number of people needing glasses earlier.

“I think a lot of people who wouldn’t have traditionally needed glasses because they would have had a more mixed career, and more mixed activities in their work, are now on the screen eight hours a day” she said.

The rise in constant screen work throughout the workforce has led to an increased level of stress and strain of people’s eyes.

"Small defects that we wouldn't have needed to correct before, now need to be corrected" to combat the pressure people's eyes are under, Ms Pitcher said.

Looking at a screen involves the muscles in your eyes tightening together to focus.

“Because your eye’s are constantly fixed, it’s like you’re running too far, and you will end up with your eye muscles spasming or muscle strain,” she said.