Blue Light Glasses- do they really work?
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With so many people switching to working from home, the rise in interest in blue light glasses has boomed. You have probably heard about them and maybe even tried a pair, but still have some questions. Therefore, we wanted to take some time to answer the most common questions we hear.
Do blue light glasses really work? How do blue light glasses work?
In short, yes. What blue light glasses do, is block the blue light from LED screens from entering into the eye- or significantly reduce the amount of blue light coming in. This is so important because blue light has been show to reduce your bodies ability to produce melatonin naturally. In a study by the University of Houston in 2017, their participants were able to increase their melatonin production by up to 58% after wearing blue light blockers for two weeks. What is interesting about the study, is that the participants were told they just needed to wear them for the three house before bedtime. This shows how important it is to either switch off from your devices before bed or wear blue light blockers.
Do I need blue light glasses?
If you are looking at screens all day- TVs, computers, smartphone, you are getting a lot of blue light into your eyes and you should consider it. As stated above can really effect your ability to produce melatonin naturally, thus making is harder to fall asleep. Additionally, blue light can be damaging to the retina over time. Too much screen time can also lead to headaches. To best protect your eyes, we do recommend to wear blue light blockers whenever lots of screen time is occurring.
I have a prescription, can I still get blue light lenses?
Absolutely. This is actually becoming more and more popular of an option as what you may call an ‘add on’. There is no problem to have this built in so that you do not have to think about it. Generally speaking, you will not notice much of a difference at all in your actual vision. The colors should be the same. What you might notice is that it is easier to fall asleep at night because you are able to produce more melatonin!
I wear contacts mostly, should I get a pair of nonprescription blue light glasses?
If you are in front of screens all day long, we would recommend this. Think of it like using readers, while you are looking at the screen and pop them up on your head when you are not. It is easy to keep a pair at your desk for those long days. Plus there are a bunch of really cute ones out there!
Where should I buy blue light glasses from?
We here at Perich Eye can definitely help you with that! If you are in the market for new prescription glasses, feel free to book an appointment with one of our locations to discuss your options. If you are looking at nonprescription options online, you will find that some places will send you a small blue light laser so that you can see they actually work. If that kind of transparency is not available, it is probably best to look elsewhere to spend your money. The good news is, it is not that much more to add that feature in when your glasses are being made. Even if you are still a skeptic, spending that little bit of extra money for the chance it will help your eye, is worth it!
