Children’s dry eyes may be caused by too much screen time, warns experts

Screen time has increased for everyone after the Covid lockout, especially for kids who were using phones and computers to attend class.

Recently, specialists have warned that children as young as six have painful eye diseases, or simply put, red eyes that typically affect adults, as a result of this increasing screen usage.

In most cases, a person with the eye problem is in their 50s or 60s. Gritty, itchy, red, sensitive eyes, as well as many other uncomfortable and painful symptoms, can result from this if it is ignored or not treated properly. According to doctors, if the issue is not handled, some of the tear-producing glands in the eyelids may sustain permanent harm.

When asked about how it actually feels, the majority of people have described it as a sensation that feels like when you slice onions.

According to a specialist Sarah Farrant, an optometrist and dry eye specialist said that now many primary-aged children are visiting her for the eye problem caused due to prolonged use of screens.

Sarah continued by saying that there weren’t any kids coming to see her when she first established her clinic, but things have changed since then. She claimed that throughout the previous five or six years, little children had visited her frequently. The youngest patient she saw was a girl who was six years old.

Dr. Matthew Olsen, a dry eye expert, says that because dry eye illness has been shown to significantly reduce one’s quality of life, it is crucial for people of all ages to understand the importance of caring for their eyes because once damage has been done, it cannot be undone.