Benefits of anti-blue light computer glasses in Uganda

If you’re like the majority of adults, you may be spending more time than ever in front of a screen. For years, many of us have been tethered to our devices, but when the pandemic struck in March 2020, nearly every aspect of life became online. Everything from business meetings to parties began to be hosted online.

It was only a matter of time before concerns about blue light exposure began to surface. According to several sources, blue light is found naturally in sunlight and artificially in fluorescent light, LEDs, computer monitors, smartphones, and tablet screens.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, blue-light-filtering glasses (also known as blue light glasses) have grown in popularity over the last couple of years. The sun emits light in all spectrums, including red, orange, green, and blue. Each of these colours emits a unique spectrum of energy. 

Blue light glasses are intended to alleviate the discomfort associated with prolonged screen time. The glasses have special lenses that block or at least filter out certain light waves from devices and also protect the retina from damage.

The average person now spends more time than ever in front of a digital device, whether it’s their phone, tablet, or television screen. Adults reportedly spend upwards of six hours per day in front of a screen, while teenagers spend approximately seven hours per day.

Along with the musculoskeletal and physiological problems that can arise from spending that much time scrolling through social media, reading news, or watching TV shows, screen time and blue light exposure can affect your eye health. Sophia Barnes, OD, and the Vision Corner team are experts in blue light. We’ll explain why you should wear blue-light-blocking glasses in this section.

Justification for The Use of Blue Light Glasses

Many people believe that excessive blue light exposure damages the eyes permanently or increases the risk of macular degeneration, but research contradicts these claims. 

According to the American Macular Degeneration Foundation (AMDF), there is no evidence that blue light can cause eye damage, and thus any claims that glasses protect against retinal damage or eye conditions such as macular degeneration are false.

However, according to UC Davis Health, blue light from screens can disrupt your sleep cycle and contribute to digital eye strain.

Why should you experiment with blue light glasses?

Work and social life are increasingly centred on spending multiple hours each day staring at a screen. Consider wearing blue light protection to counteract the effects of excessive blue light exposure. The following are five reasons why wearing these glasses may be beneficial to you.

• Improved sleep

Similarly to how a walk outside in the sunlight can make you feel more alert, spending time on a screen before bed can do the same thing. Short wavelengths delay the release of melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone that your body naturally begins releasing a couple of hours before bedtime.

Before bed, using a tablet or other type of screen can delay this release, making it more difficult to fall asleep quickly. If you’re unable to turn off your device an hour or two before bedtime, as sleep experts recommend, blue light glasses may aid in sleep.

• Reduced strain on the eyes

Continuously staring at a screen can cause stress, as well as eye and muscle strain. Ergonomic adjustments can help alleviate the muscle strain associated with sitting at a desk and staring at a screen for an extended period. Blue light-blocking glasses can assist in alleviating eye strain.

Blue light can impair your ability to focus on the screen, causing your eyes to strain to focus. Blue light glasses help increase the contrast on your screen, which makes it easier to focus and alleviates eye strain.

• Fewer migraines

Blue light, in particular, has been shown to trigger migraines and exacerbate headache pain. By blocking blue light with special glasses, migraine attacks, headaches, and headache pain may be reduced.

• Reduced likelihood of developing eye diseases

Your cornea and lens do an excellent job of preventing harmful UV light from reaching the retina. They cannot, however, block blue light. Damage to the retina can significantly increase your risk of developing macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness.

Blue light has the potential to penetrate your retina, causing symptoms similar to macular degeneration and possibly increasing your risk of developing cataracts. Protective clothing can help prevent this.

• Your device is not going anywhere.

Many of these issues associated with blue light can be avoided by stepping away from your computer, reading a book rather than watching television, and limiting your use of your tablet and phone. If you are unable to take these steps, blue light glasses can assist you.

What the Scientific Community Has to Say About Blue Light Glasses

Currently, there is no evidence that blue light glasses can alleviate symptoms of digital eye strain such as headaches, dry eyes, or blurred vision. It is further said that no scientific study has established that they have any health benefits.

A trial published in February 2021 in the American Journal of Ophthalmology mentioned that wearing blue light glasses for two hours while performing a computer task did not affect the severity of eyestrain symptoms. Additionally, a small study published in January 2019 in Optometry and Vision Science discovered that, although a blue-blocking filter used on a computer screen blocked 99% of wavelengths between 400 and 500 nanometers, it did not alleviate digital eyestrain symptoms any more effectively than a neutral filter.

That is likely because blue light is not the only cause of digital eyestrain. According to a well-known ophthalmologist at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, dry eye and eye strain are the major causes of screen-related eye problems that people are experiencing today.

These symptoms are more than likely caused by our interactions with our devices. “When you’re staring at a screen, a tablet, your phone, or whatever, you’re not blinking as frequently as you would in natural conversation, which causes your eyes to become dryer,” Frempong explains. “And the screen should be at least two feet away from your face, not pressed up against it.”

In short, because blue light is not the cause of headaches and dry eyes, blue light glasses are unlikely to help.

However, one area in which these glasses appear to be beneficial is sleep. A study published in the journal Applied Psychology in 2021 found that wearing blue light glasses improved both the quality and quantity of sleep for 63 managers. Additionally, wearing glasses improved work performance.

Another small trial, published in January 2019 in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, discovered that individuals with insomnia who wore amber-tinted blue light glasses for two hours before bed improved their sleep. It aided them in falling asleep more quickly and logging a longer, higher-quality night’s sleep. According to a systematic review published in February 2019 in Chronobiology International, this is because the glasses reduced the suppression of melatonin, a sleep-promoting hormone that is suppressed during blue light exposure. However, because the researchers from the Journal of Psychiatric Research trial did not examine melatonin levels specifically, they cannot say for certain whether the glasses mitigated this effect.