Blue light glasses: How are they beneficial for your eyes

Blue light is nothing new but it has now become a major concern for us all. The increasing role of digital devices in our daily lives has made us vulnerable to the blue light putting our eye health at a greater risk.

Every problem comes with a solution and so does this one. Wearing blue light glasses when you are working on a digital screen will protect your eyes from the high-energy blue light.

We spend a significant portion of our day on these devices and thus wearing regular glasses is not enough. You need glasses with blue light filters so that your eyes are safe from this harmful light.

What is blue light?

It is one of the lights in the visible light spectrum. Having a shorter wavelength and high energy, blue light rays are extremely harmful to your retina and may even cause vision impairment in some cases.

The visible light spectrum includes light rays between 380-780 nm. Blue light has a short wavelength between 400-465 nm.

However, blue light is not all that bad if it comes from a natural source like the sun. It is crucial to our circadian rhythm and affects our sleep/wake cycle. The blue light from the sun helps our body to know when to be alert and when to sleep.

How does blue light affect our eyes?

The human eye acts as a sensor that signals the body when it is daylight and when it is night. A significant amount of blue light is needed so that our brain remains alert and we don’t feel tired. Blue light is needed in the daytime as it boosts attention, improves reaction times, and our mood pattern.

However, blasting our eyes with a smartphone or computer light in the night-time tricks our brain into thinking that it is daylight. This is why people who use digital devices at night often find it difficult to sleep.

As blue light has short wavelengths and high-energy rays, the light gets scattered easily with minimum focus. This implies that when we are looking at a digital screen, our eyes are working extra hard to make up for the low contrast. This leads to digital eye strain or eye conditions such as age-related macular degeneration.

What are blue light glasses?

Blue screen glasses have lenses that are made to filter out blue light and safeguard your eyes from potential damage.

Too much screen time can leave you with visual discomforts like dry eyes, blurry vision, headache, and redness in the eyes. All these vision-related problems that occur due to digital consumption add up to a condition known as Computer Vision Syndrome or Digital Eye Strain.

People with normal vision should also consider using blue light glasses to lower the risk of eye damage. However, if you have a prescription, you can either buy a different pair for blue light protection or you can add the blue light blocking filter on your prescription lenses. Adding a blue light coating on your lenses is possible whether you are buying prescription glasses online or from a local eyewear store.

Benefits of blue light glasses

These days, it is difficult to find a person who doesn't spend much time on a digital screen. If you also think that you don’t need blue light glasses, take a look at blue screen glasses benefits to change your mind.

1. Blue light exposure leads to digital eye strain. Wearing glasses with blue light filters can improve your focus and bring relief from eye strain and eye discomforts. These glasses will improve your productivity whether you are using your computer for work or gaming.
2. Blue light glasses will reduce the negative impact of blue light on your sleep/wake cycle. If you like to use your smartphone before you hit the bed, make sure you do it with blue light glasses on. However, the best way to improve your sleep quality is to quit the use of digital devices before you go to sleep.
3. When your eyes are exposed to blue light for a long time, your risk of developing eye problems like cataracts or age-related macular degeneration goes higher. These glasses will prevent blue light from getting into your eyes and thus lower its impact.

While we cannot eliminate digital devices from our lives, we can certainly take some measures for digital protection. Don’t let your eyes struggle when you are too busy with your work, gaming or maybe binge-watching your favorite show. Give them the protection of blue light glasses and take a step further towards better eye health.