Why I Wear Blue Light Glasses
We can all agree that when evolution was having its way with us, phones, tablets, and computers were certainly not around. Our eyes are not equipped to deal with staring at screens for hours every day.
A study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic to investigate the effect of increased screen time on eyesight. 81.37% of participants reported at least one symptom related to their increased screen time: headaches, eye strain, double vision, blurring, or other issues (Agarwal, 2022).
Last summer, while working on a coding project, I spent at least 6 hours a day typing away at my desktop. Over time, my head began to hurt, my eyes couldn’t focus, and I even had trouble sleeping. To try and alleviate the problem, I went on Amazon and bought a pair of blue-light glasses for about $5. I figured, what’s the worst that could happen: I wasted $5.
Fortunately, I found the glasses to be highly effective. Before this purchase, the time I spent on my computer was limited by eyestrain and headaches. However, once I started using the glasses, I found myself able to clock in more hours without even realizing it. This is not to say that sitting at your computer for 8 hours a day is healthy, just that if you’re going to do it, it's better to protect your eyes than not.
Even better than the headaches and eye strain being gone, I recovered my ability to fall asleep with ease.
Blue light doesn’t just come from screens; it primarily comes from the sun. When our brains detect blue light, it’s a signal to wake up and, therefore, suppresses our melatonin production. Blue light plays a vital role in the circadian rhythm, the sleep-wake cycle. Given that the only blue light we were previously exposed to was the sun, its job is to wake us up.
This suppression of melatonin production makes it more difficult to fall asleep. When working late or scrolling on my phone before bed, I’ve found that wearing the glasses is exceptionally beneficial. In a study, using blue light glasses before bed decreased participants’ latency, which refers to the time it takes to fall asleep (Bigalke, 2021).
I hope that at this point, you are willing to try blue light glasses; if so, great! Welcome to the “Are those glasses real?“ club. As I mentioned, browse through Amazon or your preferred platform, find a pair you like, and give them a try. I’ve found that a specific type of glasses works best for me, and I'll link them below.
References
Agarwal, R., Tripathi, A., Khan, I. A., & Agarwal, M. (2022). Effect of increased screen time on eyes during COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 11(7), 3642–3647. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_2219_21
Bigalke, J. A., Greenlund, I. M., Nicevski, J. R., & Carter, J. R. (2021). Effect of evening blue light blocking glasses on subjective and objective sleep in healthy adults: A randomized control trial. Sleep Health, 7(4). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2021.02.004
