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Do your eyes feel strained and tired after staring at your computer screen, television, or digital device all day? Do you often experience a headache after spending hours in the sunshine? If so, you might be experiencing the adverse effects of blue light. Excessive blue light exposure can be pretty bad for your eyes. 

Concerns Over Blue Light

Unfortunately, it can be challenging to avoid blue light. If you are like most people today, you probably spend hours staring at screens every day. When COVID-19 hit nearly two-and-a-half years ago, almost all aspects of life went digital. Everything from parties to work meetings went online. 

It was not long before concerns over blue light exposure started setting in. Blue light is everywhere. It is naturally present in sunlight and artificially in computer monitors, LEDs, fluorescent light, and mobile device screens. 

What Is Blue Light?

Blue light is the light you see with the highest energy and shortest wavelength. It is part of the visible light spectrum and makes up about one-third of all the light you see. The primary source of natural blue light is sunlight. 

Nowadays, people spend more time using and looking closely at digital devices. Unfortunately, the negative consequences of artificial blue light can be more harmful than most people realize. 

How Can Blue Light Harm You?

Almost all blue light passes through the lens and cornea and reaches the retina. So, excessive exposure can harm your eyes in various ways and increase your risk of eye disease. Blue light can cause the following symptoms:

• Eyestrain.

• Dry eye.

• Headaches.

• Disrupted sleep patterns.

• Increased risk of developing macular degeneration.

• Eye pain.

Blue Light-blocking Glasses and Their Benefits

These are specially-made glasses designed to filter out or block blue light. They feature special tints or coatings to prevent blue light from reaching the eyes. The idea behind them is that wearing blue light-blocking glasses can help reduce eye damage, eyestrain, and affected sleep. 

Benefits

They Help Reduce Eyestrain

Using a digital device all day can lead to problems ranging from carpal tunnel syndrome to neck issues. It should not surprise you that it can also cause eyestrain due to the bright blue light emitted by such devices. Blue light-blocking glasses will help reduce eyestrain and related symptoms like blurred vision and headaches. 

Better Sleep

Exposure to blue light before you sleep can affect your circadian rhythms. It can stop or slow down the production of the chemical that tells your body it is time to sleep. It is not always possible to turn off all devices that give off blue light a few hours before bed. So, wearing a blue light blocker is the next best option.

They Might Prevent or Slow Down Age-related Macular Degeneration

Some preliminary studies suggest that blue light-blocking glasses can help mitigate the damage caused by the blue light that penetrates the eye to the retina. 

The AAO recommends wearing glasses instead of contact lenses if you spend lots of time looking at a digital screen. That is because eyeglasses are less likely to cause eye irritation and dryness associated with prolonged contact lens use. In theory, blue light-blocking glasses can provide the benefits outlined above. However, research is yet to prove these claims definitively. 

For more on blue light blocking glasses, visit Super Optical Express at our office in Gainesville, Florida. Call 352-702-9700 to book an appointment today.