When I was a kid my parents used to tell me, among other things, my eyes would turn square if I watched too much TV. What they didn’t tell me, however, is that I could literally go blind from playing on my phone too much.
While that might (definitely) sound a little too extreme to tell a child, it’s exactly what happened to one woman when her phone addiction left her temporarily blind in one eye after blood vessels burst from excess strain.
The unnamed patient from Shenzhen, a major port city in China’s southern Guangdong Province, was forced to visit hospital after being unable to see out of her left eye.
According to her doctor, Qiu Wangjian, with Songgang People’s Hospital, it followed a night of heavy smartphone use.
Doctor Qiu said:
The patient stayed up all night playing on her mobile phone.
The following morning, as soon as she woke up, she picked up her phone and started using it again.
About five minutes later, the patient discovered that she was unable to see out her left eye. She couldn’t see anything.
Images taken of her eye showed large patches of blood on her retina, blocking her vision.
We diagnosed her with valsalva retinopathy.
The condition, Qiu says, is the result of the rupturing of superficial retinal vessels caused by physical exertion, which in simple terms means she strained her eyes to the point of a blood vessel bursting.
Doctor Qiu added:
It was important that we treated her quickly in order for her not to suffer any long-term effects.
The anonymous woman was given laser treatment to create a small hole on her retina, allowing the blood to be discharged.
She is now said to be recovering after her procedure and has fortunately regained her vision.
After learning there could be some truths in the old wives tales we’re told as children, I’m starting to wonder whether my hair might actually go curly if I don’t eat my crusts.
Be right back, I’m just off to stock up on carrots to make sure I can see in the dark and make sure I’m pulling a nice face in case the wind changes and I’m stuck like that.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.