You’ll see one item topping nearly every holiday wishlist this year — blue light glasses. Even people with 20/20 vision suddenly want to don a pair of specs.
What’s behind this latest craze? Are these devices as good for your health as proponents claim? Here are four good reasons why blue light glasses are so popular — and why you should get yours before they fly off store shelves.
1. They Protect Your Eyes From Damage
Staring at a computer screen every day for hours on end can damage your eyesight. Between 50% and 90% of all users exhibit some computer vision syndrome symptoms, including blurred and double vision, dry and red eyes, eye irritation, headaches, and neck aches.
Computer use is particularly problematic if you have a genetic predisposition to certain disorders. For example, blue light can accelerate macular degeneration, an age-related eye condition leading to ever-worsening vision. It can also destroy photoreceptor cells, which do not grow back.
Talk to your provider the next time you have a routine eye exam. It doesn’t cost much extra to have them coat your lenses with a blue light film. You won’t notice any difference in how you see — the procedure will not give everything in your world a blue tint. However, you will detect less discomfort by 3 p.m. if you work on a computer for eight or more hours daily.
2. They Reduce Eye Strain and Headaches
Do you find yourself developing a daily headache around the same time each afternoon? The problem could be digital eye strain from your computer. A pair of blue light glasses could yield the relief you seek.
These glasses can also prevent the eye strain you feel after long hours at work. You might find your vision growing blurry without them. You might even experience more floaters — those little flecks you sometimes see in your visual field. Scientists hypothesize that excessive exposure contributes to vitreous degeneration, increasing opacity and visual disturbances.
You might also notice that you experience less pain in your neck. Straining to see your screen can cause you to lean forward at an unnatural angle, causing stress on these delicate muscles. You might also benefit from adjusting your monitor. You should keep it at eye level or just below, approximately 20 inches from your face. You can also adjust the color temperature to twilight mode to create a warmer background and cut the blue wavelength.
3. They Help You Sleep More Soundly
Have you heard that you should ban electronic devices from the bedroom? That’s sound advice — the blue-light wavelength they emit can disrupt your melatonin production. This hormone is vital to getting your Zzz’s, and excess exposure can leave you tossing and turning with your circadian rhythms all amok.
You should also don your blue light glasses when you take work home. This wavelength can offset your circadian rhythms by as much as three hours. Even if you close your computer by 8 p.m., you might not be able to fall asleep until nearly midnight without your shades.
4. They Look Cute
Comedian Howie Mandel once quipped, “It’s not how you feel — it’s how you look.” And darling, you’ll look marvelous in your blue light specs.
You don’t have to drop a bundle on designer frames. You can find inexpensive ones on discount frame websites and department stores. Sport a pair to your next job interview. They might increase the hiring manager’s perception of you as hardworking and intelligent.
Get a Pair, and Some Relief, Today
Blue light glasses are popular for all the reasons outlined above. Why not get yours today and stop eye strain and headaches in their tracks?
