When Should I Be Wearing Blue Light Glasses?

Many people use smartphones, tablets, and computers every day, and they can find themselves staring at screens for hours at a time. Much of our workflow, socialization, and entertainment has become attached to our digital devices, and we’re still learning how this can affect our physical health. Blue light is one way it can affect us, and it has become a major concern for many people, especially those that suffer from poor sleep, dry eyes, and headaches. 

Vision Corner in Houston, Texas can provide blue light blocking glasses and blue light protection glasses to those who want to protect their eyes. If you’re struggling with the effects of blue light, Dr. Sophia Barnes can help. Completely removing electronics from your day-to-day life probably isn’t an option, but our filtering lenses can help with computer vision syndrome.

An introduction to blue light

The wavelength and energy level of light changes from color to color. Red light is on the lower end of the spectrum, which means it has longer wavelengths and emits less energy. At the other end is blue light, which contains shorter wavelengths and a high amount of energy. 

Before we began including televisions, computers, and phones in our daily lives, most of our exposure to blue light came from the sun. Now that we’ve gone digital, though, the amount of blue light we’re absorbing has skyrocketed.

How does blue light affect my eyes?

Blue light is problematic because its short, intense wavelengths penetrate the retina when you look at it. While this isn’t an issue in small amounts, long-term exposure to blue light can lead to some unpleasant health effects, including: 

• Insomnia
• Poor sleep 
• Headaches
• Eye strain
• Dry eyes
• Blurry vision 

The more of our daily lives we spend around our screens, the worse these side effects become. To combat the effects of too much blue light exposure, many optometrists are recommending blue light glasses and filters

Reasons to wear blue light glasses  

Blue light glasses operate on a simple concept: the lenses filter out the blue light before it reaches your eyes. The impact of these lenses can be extremely noticeable. 

Better sleep

Blue light glasses allow you to enjoy your screens without throwing a wrench in your sleep cycle. 

Fewer headaches

Sunlight and blue light can trigger migraines and worsen headache pain; filtering it out alleviates those problems. 

Less eye strain

Your eyes can make out details and words on your screen better without the interference of blue light. 

Reduced risk of eye diseases

While the damage done by blue light is incremental, blue light glasses can help keep it from adding up and leading to macular degeneration. 

While you can still make an effort to set down your devices and focus on other activities, screens are here to stay. That’s why it’s important to find new ways of combating the effects of blue light. Even if you aren’t currently experiencing eye strain and headaches, it’s still a good idea to look into blue light glasses. 

If you’re interested in protecting your eyes from blue light exposure, get in touch with Vision Corner by calling 713-623-2000, or send us a message through our contact page.