Protect yourself from AMD

AMD is an eye defect that is associated with ageing. The acronym stands for age related macular degeneration. It is a condition that cannot be cured but managed based on the medical procedures and expertise available at the present time. However if left unmanaged or unattended , it could lead to blurred vision and eventually blindness.

Research has suggested that there is a subtle link between prolonged exposure to blue light which is usually from screens and AMD. Thus for individuals who are exposed to screens for extended periods on a daily basis , certain precautions need to be taken to maintain healthy eyesight.

The threat of possible harmful effects to one's vision is a real one which I can attest to from my personal experience. At the height of the pandemic, I began to experience blurred vision as well as persistent headaches. During that period I spent a lot of time behind the screens of my mobile device and laptop.

I initially thought it was just  because I had stopped using my glasses. However I observed that even when I had the glasses on, the challenge still persisted. It was only when a friend mentioned the risk of possible blindness due to screen usage in the dark that I began to have a rethink as to the cause of the challenges with my vision.

I turned to Google to find out if I was alone in this experience of mine. The results from my search query gave me a whole new perspective on why I was experiencing challenges with my vision. It turns out that I wasn't alone and that there were so many other people having similar challenges.

The reason for this was an increased exposure to screens of mobile phones or computers (increased screen time) which meant an increased exposure to blue light which has been suggested to be linked to AMD due to the impairment of the retinal cells.

This challenge to vision is one of the emerging challenges with the digital age in which we live. For this reason, the challenge has been appropriately dubbed digital eye strain. According to the website nvision.com, some of the symptoms of digital eye strain include the following:

Eyestrain

Dryness of the eyes

Blurred vision

Headaches

Some techniques have been suggested to help reduce the risk to eyesight associated with exposure to blue light from mobile devices and other screens.  A few of them are stated below.

1.Reduction of screen time

There is no ideal or standard screen time. It is a good idea though to take a break from the screen the moment one starts to experience any form of vision related challenges. Children's screen time should especially be monitored as It has been suggested that their eyes absorb blue light more than those of adults. Hence their screen time should be considerably lesser when compared to that of adults.

2.Maintaing a good posture and distance from the screens

Good posture with the eyes gazing downwards at the screen and adequate distance have been reported to help in the reduction of eye strain overtime. Some studies have suggested maintaing a distance of 25 inches from the screen as a measure to reduce exposure to blue light.

3.Proper lighting or light management

It is recommended that the amount of light in the environment or surrounding in which you intend to use your device should almost be be the same with the level of brightness or lighting of your screen. The reason for this is that eye strain is likely to occur if there is a marked difference between the brightness of the environment and the screen. A good example of this is using a mobile phone with a bright screen in a dark environment which causes the eyes to work harder.

4.Adopt the 20-20-20 technique

This approach require one to take a break every 20 minutes by looking at an object 20 feet away for 20 seconds. This helps to give the eyes a break to relax.

From the suggestions above, it is obvious that in order to safeguard one's vision while working with screens, a combination of the techniques above is required for the desired protection and the individual techniques in isolation. Most importantly if you are experiencing any of or a combination of the symptoms above, it is recommended that you see an eye doctor for a definitive diagnosis so that whatever may be causing it (or them) can be properly managed.

It is important to point out that exposure to blue light is not the only factor responsible for AMD as it a result of a combination of factors. However those  who suspect that they may be prone to AMD may do well to reduce their screen time.

Another handy tip for users of android devices is to enable the night light feature which aims to reduce eyestrain due to mobile phone usage at night. Windows operating system also has this feature. I do not know if Apple devices such as the iPhone or Macintosh OS have similar features. There are also applications which offer night light or blue light filters for devices which do not have the feature built into the  operating system.

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