Children using mobile phones for over four hours a day develop squint and double vision, revealed a PGI study, whose report was published in Neuro-Ophthalmology, an international journal, recently.
Three kids aged 8-12 years were examined in this observational study. The study found that on stopping the use of mobile phones, these children recovered completely.
As per the study, the three affected kids had visited the PGI for treatment. Doctors found two of them had a summer break at school and were excessively using smartphone for four hours a day in the preceding month.
The smartphone usage was discouraged and the kids were prescribed cyclopentolate drops to be administered twice a day for two weeks. At the first follow-up, both the patients were recovering and hence, were kept on the same medication. When symptoms subsided, the drops were tapered and then finally stopped. In addition, doctors gave them photochromatic glasses for outdoor use and prohibited the use of smartphone.
Based on the experience of the above cases, the third patient, who had symptoms only for one week, was discouraged from using smartphone and given placebo drops. In a week, symptoms started decreasing and hence, no cycloplegics were prescribed.
All three patients recovered in a period ranging from three to eight weeks. Patients were symptom-free at the final follow-up of six months, added the report of the study, which was conducted by doctors Savleen Kaur, Jaspreet Sukhija, Rahul Khanna, Aastha Takkar and Manpreet Singh. “We blame the use of smartphones for accommodative spasm. This is because of a positive and reliable history of cellphone usage and the third patient getting relieved of symptoms without medication. Smartphone usage is a representative of near work. Our cellphone dependence is increasing day by day. In addition, children are influenced by parents using smartphones. Nearly one-fourth of the young population is addicted to cellphone. In a technology-filled world of ours, “screenagers” should often be cautioned about the development of this symptom,” it added.
