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in collaboration with
Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)
In certain specific conditions, when you are at the beach or skiing, phone or tablet screens can have a “mirror” effect and create solar maculopathy, just like when you watch an eclipse without protective glasses. Two cases have been reported in a study by a doctor, who calls for vigilance.
It is a misadventure that happened to two different people, in a short time, which is why the ophthalmologist Joaquin Marticorena published a scientific study on the subject, to attract public attention.
Victims of solar maculopathy
In this study, the doctor therefore reports the case of a young man of thirty, presenting to the emergency room with a reduction in his visual acuity accompanied by other visual symptoms, two days after having read for four hours with his tablet on a terrace of a ski center.
The second case concerns a young woman of twenty who complained of similar symptoms, having read at the beach on her mobile phone for 3 hours. Both patients denied looking directly into the sunlight at any time.
Like during an eclipse
After eye examinations, doctors make the diagnosis of solar maculopathy. In his study which takes up these two cases, Dr. Joaquin Marticorena explains that he describes “ the first two cases of solar maculopathy in individuals exposed to sunlight reflected from the screen of mobile devices in the absence of direct sunlight “.
Asked about the subject, Pr Antoine Brézin, ophthalmologist at the Cochin hospital in Paris, explains that in certain specific conditions, such as on the beach or on the terrace of a mountain restaurant, this is possible. “ The screen acts as a mirror and the people who are reading, and are focused, do not look away as they normally would. It is therefore entirely possible that they suffered from solar maculopathy, much like when one watches an eclipse without eye protection. “.
Consequences for the young woman
If the young man finally recovered all of his visual abilities after two months, it is not the same for the young woman, who keeps the consequences of this episode, with a black spot in the center of her vision, called scotoma, five months after the fact. Doctors suspect that the sun’s photoreceptors in his eye were destroyed there.
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Make sure to protect your eyes
These two cases are the first to the knowledge of the authors of this study, which is why they encourage the use of sunglasses with an appropriate filter when reading from a screen in environments where solar radiation is believed to be increased “.
An observation that Professor Brézin agrees with who recalls that “ to avoid keratitis, which is much more common, it is important to properly protect your eyes with a suitable pair of sunglasses “.