Eye exams for young people increasingly require relaxing drops due to phone use

Eye care professionals in Finland report a growing need for relaxing eye drops during vision tests for teenagers and young adults, citing excessive phone use as the primary cause, Yle reports.

Optometrists say prolonged screen time without breaks has led to chronic eye strain, making it difficult to assess true vision without temporarily paralysing the eye’s focusing muscles. The phenomenon has become notably more common over the past five to six years, according to Riikka Torvela, chair of the Finnish Association of Optometric Professionals.

“Young people started coming in complaining of an odd sensation in their eyes,” Torvela said. When eyes are constantly forced to focus on nearby objects, they remain in a state of strain, distorting test results. Relaxing drops—whose effects last a few hours—block the focusing muscle, revealing the eye’s actual refractive error.

While the drops confirm whether corrective lenses are needed, exams sometimes show that glasses aren’t required at all—only that the eyes were overworked. Torvela emphasised that phone use doesn’t permanently damage vision but can cause headaches, dry eyes, and fluctuating clarity.

To reduce strain, experts recommend the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet (6 metres) away for 20 seconds. Even brief breaks, like admiring scenery during a bus ride instead of staring at a screen, help relax the eyes.

Previously, relaxing drops were used mainly for children under 10, whose highly adaptable eyes made accurate testing difficult. Now, their use has expanded to older teens and young adults.