Whether you are an adult or a teen, we can assume that you spend a lot of time in front of digital screens every day. Many of us like to spend our leisure time on smartphones or laptops and with everything shifting to online due to the pandemic, we can’t even count the number of hours we’re spending on digital mediums these days.
However, all this screen time has a negative impact on our eyes. It leads to eye strain and sleep disruption. Blue tint glasses are designed to filter out the blue light coming from digital devices.
With the use of digital devices on the rise, these glasses are becoming popular day by day. Many eyewear companies have jumped into the bandwagon and launched blue tint glasses.
What is blue light?
Blue light is a natural form of light with a blue tone. It is present in the sunlight even when your eyes perceive the colour as white. Blue light wavelengths range between 400 and 450 nanometers but these rays contain higher amounts of energy per photon than other forms of light.
Blue light is good for us but only when we get it from the sunlight. It boosts attention, reaction times and alertness. But it’s considered to be the most disruptive at night. You need low-cost glasses with blue lenses if you’re exposed to this light at night.
Blue light is around all of us. While we used to get it from the sun, our beloved devices have made our contact with blue light more frequent. Most people spend a good amount of their time in front of computers and television every day. All of these screens are made of LED or light-emitting diodes which is another source of blue light.
How does blue light affect your eyes?
Whether natural or artificial, some kinds of lights are damaging to your eyes. For instance, UV rays from the sun could result in vision-threatening disorders such as cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. This is why eye experts ask you to use sunglasses and blue tint glasses when exposed to these harmful lights.
While the blue light has not been shown to cause serious damage to your eyes, the following temporary vision problems are common in people with excessive screen time.
Eye Strain
While blue light is one of the causes behind eye strain, your screen time habits also have a role to play in this. Staring at digital screens for long hours and holding your smartphone too close to your face can cause digital eye strain or computer vision syndrome.
If you stare at digital screens without using blue tint glasses, you’ll feel eye strain. The most common symptoms you are going to feel are pain, dryness, irritation, itchiness and a burning sensation in your eyes. Some people may even experience blurry or double vision after a long screen time session. And if your posture isn’t correct when using these devices, you will feel neck or shoulder pain.
When we stare at a bright screen for long hours, we blink less. This low blinking rate leads to dry eyes which is another negative side of screen time. However, this temporary side effect can be avoided if you use low-cost glasses with anti-glare coating and blue-blocking technology.
Sleep Disruption
Watching a YouTube video while laying in bed at night might look harmless but it can affect your sleep cycle. Blue waves are infamous for disturbing your circadian rhythm which regulates your internal clock.
Blue light suppresses the release of melatonin hormone which makes you fall sleepy. So, if you expose yourself to blue waves at night, you might not be able to sleep well. And when you don’t get enough sleep, you get problems such as depression and cardiovascular problems.
Do Blue tint glasses Work?
Blue light glasses have active filters on the lenses that block blue light from digital screens. Eye health experts recommend using blue tint glasses while using devices whether day or night. You don’t have to use these glasses when you’re not looking at screens and you don’t need an eye prescription to buy these glasses.
Although blue tint glasses are harmless and don’t disturb your vision, there’s no scientific evidence indicating that these glasses can prevent or delay the development of eye diseases such as cataracts or age-related macular degeneration.
While some people claim that they feel more comfortable looking at screens when wearing low-cost glasses with blue light filters, we can’t say if they’re suitable for all people.
Natural ways to cut down digital eye strain
It’s impossible for us to stop using computers or laptops. However, there are a few tricks to help you avoid digital eye strain and sleep well at night.
- Don’t use your computers or laptops too close to your face. Make sure that there’s at least 25 inches gap between you and the screen.
- Take short regular breaks every 20 minutes. Use the 20-20-20 rule and look at an object at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes.
- Use eye drops or artificial tears if you’ve started to develop dry eyes from screen time. But, make sure to consult your doctor first.
- Avoid using your phone or laptop before bed. Turn on the night mode to make the screen light easy on your eyes
- Use dim red lights in your room. Red light cancels out sleep disruption and stimulates melatonin release in your body.
- Use blue tint glasses to protect your eyes from digital eye strain.
Final outlook
No evidence guarantees that blue tint glasses are the best at delaying the onset of cataracts or other age-related eye diseases. However, they sure do protect your eyes from digital eye strain. If you don’t trust these glasses, make sure to use the natural tips given above to bring down the effects of screen time on your eyes and health.
You can get low-cost glasses with blue-blocking technology at your nearest optical stores. You can even buy them online to get a good bargain. Digital eye strain symptoms go away as soon as your eyes recover from screen time. But, if the symptoms persist, make sure to contact an eye doctor or optometrist. Get annual eye exams to keep a check on your eye health.