In our increasingly connected world of virtual workplaces, family chats, exercise and home-schooling, talk of blue light and its potentially harming effects on our overall health are coming to the fore. But what do we need to pay attention to and what can we do about it?
What is blue light and where is it found?
Light is made up of several colours with blue emitting the highest energy of the spectrum due to its short wavelength. This, in short, means that blue light is closest in frequency to harmful UV light, which we already know we need to limit our exposure to where possible.
Blue light is everywhere, which isn’t as scary as it sounds. Naturally occurring from the sun, our bodies are accustomed to it to some degree and natural light is beneficial to our overall health. The limitations of exposure are more focussed around digital blue light emitted from screens – TVs, laptops, tablets, computers, phones, gaming, and so on.
How does blue light affect our health?
Blue light exposure can impact us in several different ways. Patients have experienced strain and pain in and around the eyes, headaches, and fatigue which can lead to poor posture – particularly prevalent particularly in gamers, laptop users, and prolific phone users. Another particularly damaging side effect of blue light is the potential for it to disrupt our circadian rhythm – our sleep/wake pattern – essentially causing poor quality sleep which opens doors to further health implications.
What can you do about blue light exposure?
There are lots of high-quality research pieces about screen time exposure with recommendations for both children and adults. For children, it is recommended that under 5’s don’t exceed over an hour of screen time and a maximum of two hours for older children (Source: World Health Organisation). Whilst there are no set adult screen times recommendations, they again are advised to spend no more than two hours before detrimental impact can occur.
What we do know is that this is most certainly not possible with work commitments and the challenges brought to the world in 2020 by COVID-19, with adults spending over 40% of their time a day on a screen device of some kind. That’s a whopping 6.25hrs a day and 45hrs a week! (Source: OFCOM).
You can take active measures to keep an eye on screen time and usage and using blue light blocking glasses is a fantastic tactic in alleviating the impact on your health it can cause.
How do blue light blocking glasses work?
Blue light blocking lenses block out the blue light emitted to your eyes. At Lensology, our blue light lenses block UVA and UVB rays, which we already know are very damaging to eyesight – all this in a virtually clear lens.
The new range of Blue Light Blocking Glasses from Lensology is non-prescription meaning any screen user, adult or child, can help to protect their eyes. For prescribed eyecare, the blue-blocking protection can be added to any prescription lens.
How do blue light glasses help your eyes?
Research into blue light is still fairly new and so further benefits may become more apparent as their usage increases. Lensology cites 6 key benefits to wearing them;
1. Long term eye protection
Conserving the condition of your eyesight is something we too often do not do. We now know to wear sunglasses in bright sunlight almost habitually. With the digital world around us forever increasing in frequency and format, protecting eyes from the impact it can have seems like a simple step in future-proofing our eyesight for the long term.
2. Prevents eye strain
Eye strain can be caused by a variety of issues and so we would always recommend you seek medical/optical advice should you experience it. If it is found to be from digital use then Lensology’s blue-light-blocking glasses and lenses can make a sizeable impact on the strain to your eyes, improving concentration and vision throughout the day.
3. Improves sleep
By blocking the blue light, the glasses and lenses can therefore halt the disruption to your circadian rhythm as mentioned earlier. It may not be blue light alone disrupting your sleep, but research has found it to have a detrimental impact. By limiting the blue light and ideally not using a screen in bed before you go to sleep (we are all guilty!), you can give your body the restful sleep it needs to function properly, and frankly, it deserves it.
4. Prevents dry eyes
Dry eyes may sound like a minor affliction but when you are trying to concentrate or about to drive after a few hours working, gaming, or networking online, it is not what you need. Also, increased rubbing of your eyes due to dryness can make them sore and mean you are touching your eyes considerably more than you should. Limit the transfer of bacteria to your eyes and make your screen time more comfortable by blocking out the blue light causing the dryness.
5. Relief from headaches
Now again, headaches are not to be taken lightly and you should seek medical advice before self-treating. If you are found to be experiencing headaches due to your blue light exposure through screen time, then Lensology’s Blue Light Blocking Glasses and lenses are a simple and effective way to alleviate headaches.
A welcome addition is an improvement in posture – often impacted by headaches and eye strain and as a result, can be a debilitating side effect of blue light disrupting your daily life.
6. Blue light lenses can fit in any frames
You do not need to change your frames should you decide to add blue light blocking to your eyecare. If you have the frames you want, Lensology can reglaze your glasses with many different filters and protective glazed lenses including the blue light blocking function. If you are non-prescription, then their new range for children and adults caters for those patients looking for blue light blocking only, with the added features including;
- Blue light blocking
- Anti-glare coating
- Anti UVA and UVB
- Scratch-resistant
- Anti- smudge, and fingerprint
- Water repellent
- Dust Repellent
- Reduced colour and image distortion
Blue light exposure isn’t going away, quite the contrary, but we can take simple steps to manage its effects on our health and well-being, and blue light blocking eyecare is a simple and effective way to do this.
Check out how Lensology can help you here with their simple postal reglazing and frames services.
