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The Benefits of Blue Light Blocking Glasses

Blue light exposure is an unavoidable part of our daily lives but there are ways we can protect ourselves. Thankfully, there are many benefits of blue light blocking glasses as they help to protect our health and well-being in a simple, natural way.

What is Blue Light?

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Light is made up of several colors but due to its short wavelength, blue light is the closest to UV light. We are often reminded to limit the exposure to UV light as too much can be harmful, but many people do not realize where blue light is found.

While blue light can be naturally occurring from the sun and to some degree this is beneficial to our health, blue light can also be emitted from screens. This is the blue light we should limit. Laptops, phones, computers and tablets all emit blue light.

In fact, you’re probably reading this on a device right now that is emitting blue light – but don’t worry, blue light blocking glasses can help.

How Does Blue Light Affect Health?

Blue light can affect our health in different ways from eye strain to fatigue. It is even believed to affect posture, especially among those who are glued to their phones or gaming consoles. Blue light can also affect sleep as it disrupts the circadian rhythm (our sleep pattern.) Poor sleep then has a knock-on effect, influencing other health issues such as high blood pressure, difficulty concentrating, and memory loss.  

What Are Blue Light Glasses?

Blue light glasses, also known as blue light blocking glasses contain special lenses that have been designed to reduce blue light exposure to the eye. The lenses are usually slightly yellow as this helps to filter and counterbalance the blue light waves. You can either buy lenses that fit into your current frames, or opt for a specific pair of blue light blockers.

glasses with macbook and notebook

Benefits of Blue Light Glasses

Long Term Eye Protection

We reach for our sunglasses without thinking as soon as we see the sun so why don’t we use blue light blocking glasses to future proof our vision too? As our use of devices continues to grow, our long-term eyesight could be in danger. Although more research still needs to be done, early studies indicate that because blue light penetrates the eye right to the retina, blue blocking glasses can reduce the damage this may cause later in life. Consider them prevention rather than a cure that your future self will thank you for.

Prevents Dry Eyes

Dry eyes maybe don’t sound as severe as long term sight issues, but they can cause severe irritation when driving, working, or studying. Not only is this a distraction in itself, but this encourages the sufferer to rub their eyes.

 An increase in eye rubbing increases the chances of bacteria transferring to the eyes, heightening your sight issues. Blue light blocking glasses help to prevent dry eyes, the distraction they cause and the potential knock-on effects they can have.

woman in blue shirt on computer wearing glasses

Reduce Eye Strain

If you use a computer or smartphone daily, this can cause a variety of health issues including posture problems, carpal tunnel syndrome and eye strain. There is actually a medical term, computer vision syndrome (CVS) that is used to describe the unique type of eyestrain that our digital devices cause.

This is because we spend too long staring at a screen that is releasing blue light without taking breaks. Using blue light blocking glasses will help to reduce eye fatigue, alongside blurred vision.

Improved sleep

As mentioned, blue light can disrupt our circadian rhythm which in turn has a detrimental impact on sleep. Blue light blocking glasses can filter the blue light, limiting your exposure before bed. Alongside this we should limit our screen time before bed including no late night scrolling, turning the TV off earlier and shutting down the laptop at a sensible time.

Relief from headaches

Blue light exposure through extensive screen time can also be to blame for headaches. This in time, can affect your posture when sitting at your desk or scrolling on your phone.

While blue light blocking glasses can help to filter the blue light, it is advised to contact your doctor if headaches persist before self-treating.

man cleaning glasses with coffee on desk in background

Additional Ways to Reduce the Effects of Blue Light

Although there are many benefits to wearing blue light blocking glasses, using the suggestions below alongside the glasses can help maximize benefits.

  • Limit screen time – If you take regular breaks from your laptop or TV, this will allow your eyes to rest and limit blue light exposure. You can use the 20/20/20 rule – every 20 minutes, focus on an object 20 feet away for a minimum of 20 seconds.
  • Avoid blue light at night – Although we should try at limit exposure as much as we can, it’s particularly important to avoid blue light in the evening as it can disrupt your sleep. As a general guide, its advised to shut down devices at least 3 hours before bed.
  • Use a filter – If you do need to use devices in the evening you can switch your phone or laptop to “night mode” this will lower the amount of blue light it releases and ease eye strain. You can also apply filters to your tablet or smartphone that have a yellow tint, again limiting the amount of blue light they emit.

Where You Can Buy Blue-Light Blocking Glasses

You can find blue light glasses on Amazon. You can also talk to your optometrist about adding blue light filtering lenses to your prescription eyewear.

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Sources:

  • https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2599717
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7229994/
  • https://www.hindawi.com/journals/pd/2019/1906271/

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