Blue light isn’t a new concept at all. However, it’s prevalence in our day-to-day lives has grown exponentially, and today there is the widespread popularity of devices that give off blue light, such as smartphones, computers and energy efficient LED light bulbs.
With a substantial number of individuals spending a great portion of their days glued to their smartphones or computer screens and with more homes, business settings and offices using LED light bulbs increasingly, it’s a good idea you get an understanding of blue light, how it can affect your eyes and sleep, and the benefits of wearing blue light glasses or sunglasses.
What is Blue Light?
Blue light is a short wavelength, meaning it produces greater amounts of energy. It’s a color in the visible light spectrum. It’s everywhere in the world today. While the sun used to be the only source of blue light, these days you’re increasingly exposed to blue light through digital screens like:
- Computers
- Televisions
- Laptops
- Electronic devices
- Smartphones
- Fluorescent lighting and LED
- Gaming systems
- Tablets
Do You Need to Worry About Blue Light?
Around 80% of individuals in the U.S. report using their electronic devices for more than a couple hours each day. Almost 67% use two or more electronic devices together and 59% report experiencing digital eye strain symptoms.
Around six in 10 adult individuals experience digital eye strain symptoms after using their computer for a couple of hours. Common to regular users are symptoms like:
- Headaches
- Eyestrain
- Blurry vision
Here are some more startling statistics provided by The Vision Council.
Individuals in the U.S. report experiencing the following digital eye strain symptoms:
- Eye strain (32.4%)
- Headaches (27.7%)
- Dry eyes (27.2%)
- Blurred vision (27.9%)
- Shoulder and neck pain (35%)
Aside from playing outdoors, children also engage a lot in watching television (20.1%) and on digital devices (23.1%). Adult individuals in the U.S. report their kids to experience the following symptoms after they’ve been exposed for a couple of hours or more of screen time:
- Shoulder/neck pain (5%)
- Headaches (8.8%)
- Poor behavior (13.3%)
- Irritated or dry eyes, eye strain (9.1%)
- Decreased attention span (15.2%)
- Irritability (13.5%)
Blue light also impacts the circadian rhythm of your body. This is your natural wake and sleep cycle. In the daytime, blue light stimulates and wakes you up. However, when you have too much exposure to blue light late at night from your computer, phone or tablet, it can make it more difficult to fall asleep.
While your eyes can block out UV rays effectively, they’re not that great at blocking out blue light. In fact, just about all the blue light reaches your light-sensitive retina. And, when you absolutely need to scroll through your news feed on Facebook before going to bed at night, it can alter your body’s natural rhythm and disrupt it over time.
What are Blue Light Glasses?
Blue light computer glasses feature anti-glare protection and tinted lenses. The lenses limit your blue light exposure from your smartphone, computer, light bulbs or even sunshine. Your eyes are sensitive to this high-energy blue light and it can damage your retina, potentially leading to blindness.
Blue light glasses improve computer vision syndrome and digital eye strain symptoms and possible eye damage. If you’re on the computer during the day for many hours like at school or work, blue light glasses are a useful option.
You can obtain blue light glasses in Portland, OR without a prescription if you don’t require vision correction or have them specially prescribed for optimizing your vision for the specific distance you view your devices.
If you wear bifocals or progressive lenses routinely or have presbyopia (age-related farsightedness), prescription blue light glasses with single vision lenses provide you the extra benefit of a far bigger field of view for clearly seeing your whole computer screen. However, these are exclusively for seeing arm’s length away objects and not for other distance vision requirements or for driving.
Benefits of Blue Light Glasses
When you wear blue light glasses while you’re using your smartphone, computer or other digital devices, you’re taking an extra step in limiting your blue light exposure, which can help enhance your overall eye health. A few specific benefits of computer glasses are:
1. Ease Eye Discomfort
Using the computer excessively could cause digital eye strain or computer vision syndrome. Blue light glasses in Portland, OR help to reduce eye strain and enhance your focus, causing your eyes to feel more awake. Because your eyes won’t be affected as much to a lot of computer use, it could also enhance your productivity.
2. Helps with Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)
This is a leading cause of blindness in the United States. Blue-screen glasses help fight against this condition since they prevent blue light from wearing your eyes down. They could also help improve early symptoms of AMD, like blurry vision.
3. Enhance Sleep Habits
Typically, you should not use blue light devices before you go to bed at night since the high-energy frequency can make it harder for you to fall asleep. But, computer glasses can allow you to use these devices before bedtime and still experience a restorative night’s sleep because they fight against the high energy and reduce the exposure your eyes receive from blue light.
Visit Asterix for Your Blue Light Glasses
Our skilled and professional Opticians can help you find your ideal pair of computer glasses or other types of eyeglasses to fit your style and face. We provide Portland residents a large selection of high-quality eyeglass and sunglass frames.
To keep costs low, quality high and your wait time at a minimum, we utilize our own r local lab. Our Asterix Eyewear professionals use the best lens materials that fit your selected frames and prescription, along with anti-reflective and digital surfacing coatings to ensure you’re totally satisfied with your new glasses. Contact us today to learn more by calling 866-771-6654.
