Sydney boy develops serious eye condition from 'too much screen time' during lockdown

Like many parents, I started this most recent period of lockdown and online learning with the best of intentions. Having learned from Sydney's first lockdown in 2020 I know routine was key.

But that first lockdown was nowhere near as long or as intense as this, and it didn't take long for the wheels to fall off. As I attempted to manage my own stress and keep up with the demands of my work, I left the kids to their own devices more often than I would have liked.

For my son Philip, 17, and my daughter Caterina, 12, that meant gaming with friends, using their drawing tablets, playing with our pets and other activities children stuck in a small apartment may choose to do. For Giovanni, 13, that meant gaming only.

It didn't take long for him to complain of dry and itchy eyes, which I knew from previous experience is the result of way too much screen time. We went for a walk and did some cooking that afternoon, but by the next morning his right eye was looking red and swollen.

At first I didn't connect the swelling to screen time. It looked just the same as when he is bitten by a mozzie near his eye while he is sleeping and suffers an allergic reaction. I gave him a chewable anti-histamine thinking that would do the trick, but as the day progressed it became worse.

The next morning he could hardly open it, but still I thought it was an allergic reaction to a mozzie bite because there was a lump on the edge of his eyelid.

I took him to the doctor just in case, and we were told Giovanni had an infected oil gland or 'stye'. He would need medicated eye drops to correct it.

The doctor mentioned they can develop from rubbing your eye, and Giovanni had only started doing this when his eyes became dry and itchy due to too much screen time.

The next morning it was even worse, alarmingly so. After sharing a photo of Giovanni's eye with friends and family, my friend who had suffered a similar condition the previous year urged me to take him back to the doctor and ask for antibiotics.

My friend said his stye had become so infected he lost all his eyelashes and still suffers irritation to this day.

So back to the doctor we went, but I didn't have to ask for antibiotics. As soon as the doctor saw Giovanni's eye he wrote him a script. He then explained to me that while the antibiotics should clear up the infection, it could take "months" for Giovanni's eye to fully heal.

Even once the infection had been cleared, he explained Giovanni would be left with a "hard bump" on the edge of his eyelid, which may need specialist care.

I don't need to tell you, I felt terrible. Wracked with guilt.

The infection and swelling on his eye are now gone but his eye is still itchy and irritated, and taking him off his computer completely isn't viable. Giovanni is autistic and therefore more obsessed with gaming and computing than your average obsessed adolescent, and living in a small apartment in lockdown while I am working full-time doesn't leave us with many options.

An easier solution seemed to be that I purchase eye drops for Giovanni, and he has been using them a couple of times a day. I remind him to take a break from his computer so he will try and find something else to do.

We go for a walk each day and try and do some cooking, but sometimes I get busy and forget to do this.

It's a struggle, but I am desperate for this not to happen again.

While I've always understood too much screen time isn't ideal, I've always been pretty relaxed about it due to Giovanni's autism and it has never been as serious an issue as it has been this time.

It has been more than eight weeks since we went into lockdown and he isn't vaccinated, so he won't be returning to school anytime soon, even when restrictions begin to lift.

Suffice to say, I now know the negative impacts of screen time aren't just mental but physical. He gets headaches and a sore back, making those walks and back stretches and everything else I can think to do even more important.

Until lockdown lifts, I can only do my best to prevent this happening again at the same time as supporting his choice to use his computer for long periods of time. It makes him happy and relaxed and distracts him from the fact life as he knew it isn't possible at the moment.

I am trying to shake off the guilt; these are extraordinary times. But I did want to share this experience as a warning to parents, to make sure if they see their kids rubbing their eyes or complaining they feel irritated to take them off their screens for periods of time across the day.

Contact Jo Abi at jabi@nine.com.au

Always seek medical advice from your GP