The Bizarre Case of Smartphone-Induced Temporary Blindness

Consider this a cautionary tale for all those attached to their phones at all hours, even in the dead of night. A peculiar phenomenon called 'transient smartphone blindness' has been reported in two women, raising eyebrows in the medical community. The cause? Regularly checking their smartphones in the dark.

A Disturbing Experience

These two women, aged 22 and 40, experienced intermittent episodes of short-term vision loss lasting up to 15 minutes, a condition that had them stumped and concerned for months. After multiple medical examinations, MRI scans, and heart tests revealed no identifiable cause, a simple question by an eye specialist led to a surprising revelation.

Solving the Mystery of Vision Loss

Dr. Gordon Plant of Moorfield’s Eye Hospital in London asked the women about their exact activities during the vision loss episodes. The common thread? Both women had a habit of viewing their smartphones in the dark with one eye, while the other eye was obscured by a pillow. This caused one eye to adapt to the light of the screen and the other to the darkness.

"When they set their phone aside, their 'phone eye' struggled to adapt to the dark, taking several minutes to match the darkness-adapted eye," Dr. Plant explained. This resulted in a temporary blindness that, while harmless, was understandably disconcerting.

A Skeptic's Diary and a Physician's Experiment

Relief swept over one woman upon realizing that the vision loss wasn't a symptom of a severe health issue such as an impending stroke. The other woman, however, remained skeptical. She meticulously recorded her fleeting vision loss over several months before accepting the eye specialist's explanation. But old habits die hard - she couldn't resist checking her phone from her bed.

Dr. Rahul Khurana, a representative from the American Academy of Ophthalmology, found the theory interesting but stressed that two cases are insufficient to definitively link one-eyed smartphone use in the dark to the problem. He and his wife, both avid smartphone users, tried to mimic the scenario but found the one-eyed phone checking rather strange.

A Simple Preventive Measure

Dr. Plant's advice is straightforward: use both eyes when looking at your smartphone screen in the dark. So the next time you're lying in bed scrolling through your phone, remember this odd tale of transient smartphone blindness. A small adjustment could save you from a disorienting experience.

References:

P. Robles-Amor, A. Miranda-Sánchez, N. Perales-Casado, E. Santos-Bueso,
Transient smartphone-induced blindness,
Journal Français d'Ophtalmologie,
Volume 45, Issue 10, 2022,Pages e455-e456,
ISSN 0181-5512, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfo.2022.03.027.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0181551222002789)

Eriksen E, Jørstad ØK. Transitorisk smarttelefonblindhet [Transient smartphone blindness]. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2021 Mar 18;141(5). Norwegian. doi: 10.4045/tidsskr.20.0972. PMID: 33754676. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33754676/