Your smartphone is your trustiest friend when it comes to your day to day communication with the wider world. Your trusty ally in getting through the day, it is almost now an extension to one’s own hand. Of course, it is no longer simply a phone but rather something that is simply a part of us; an omni-present device that, almost unknown to us, we are hopelessly addicted to. Whether for gaming, texting, social media updating, shopping, apps browsing or God knows what else, this tiny little devise has us in its grip and that’s just the way it is!

However, great and all as smartphones are in simplifying many aspects of our daily lives, our over-reliance on them can actually have a very negative impact on our eyes. It’s not something we ever really think about, or indeed hear much about from healthcare providers or media, but the fact is that staring at a smartphone for hours every day is simply bad for our eyes, and can result in eye fatigue, which can manifest itself in a number of different ways including itching, soreness, headaches, tiredness, dry eyes, burning eyes....now that we say it you know exactly what we mean, don’t you?!

Now let’s not get carried away here....we are not talking life-threatening ailments nor calling upon smartphone owners everywhere to get rid of their smartphones with immediate effect in one giant global purge! No, we are simply flagging the fact that over-usage of one’s smartphone can result in eye-strain, leading to wider vision problems. In the same way that joints can suffer from repetitive strain injuries (ever suffer finger joint pain as a result of too much texting?), it really does stand to reason that our eyes – the most complicated and sensitive of organs – can suffer the strain too.

It is never too late to change your behaviour of course, when it comes to how you use your smartphone devise on a daily basis. Here is just one very useful way (undoubtedly the most practical way) in which you can protect your eyes from the stress of excessive strain and use:

Take regular breaks!

If you find that you are constantly in need of your phone and cannot be parted from it for more than 5 minutes, then you really need to make a conscious effort to have some down time from your phone. Excessive use really does place a lot of strain on the muscles of your eyes and will likely lead to vision problems at some point along the line. Yes your eyes are remarkably durable organs but looking at a small screen for hours every day does place great strain on them and as with all muscles, the eye muscles simply need rest to recover!

So, with this in mind, why not try the 20-20-20 rule? Basically this rule involves taking a rest from looking at your smartphone screen every 20 minutes for just 20 seconds at a time, whilst looking at some object 20 feet away. Doing this relaxes the eye muscles, which in turn helps to reduce the strain that is placed on them! Simple eh?

If, however, as an avid (ok excessive perhaps?!) smartphone user who is already hearing the alarm bells ringing in your head, in relation to the types of eye ailments outlined above, worry not....there is most certainly light at the end of the tunnel!

You see, here at Optilase Clinic, we offer a free consultation (yes, 100% completely free!) to assess your specific vision and only then, determine whether you may need to consider laser eye treatment. And, with many different vision related ailments, your dedicated Laser Optometrist will determine precisely the best treatment option for you, specific to your eyes, and offer you the very best advice and information about the proposed laser eye treatment, including the stages that are involved from beginning right through to the end.

So, if you feel you are suffering from eye strain or vision problems and may need to undergo laser eye surgery, contact our team today and make the first step by booking your free consultation. Simply call us on +353 1 223 8821 or fill in the form above right and one of our team will contact you in the next available moment!