How to know if you need blue light glasses?

If you are reading this article, you have probably heard about blue light glasses before. Yes, these famous glasses that would block the blue light from the screens and thus protect our eyes and improve our sleep! 

The market of blue light blocking glasses is in constant progression, it is also very likely that you have come across an advert promoting these products, and that you are currently in the middle of a hesitation, not really knowing if these blue light glasses will be necessary in your daily life or not. 

You spend time in front of screens

We live in an era where digitalization is present in the daily life of the vast majority of people on this planet. It's almost inevitable: screens are everywhere around you. Your phone, your television, the digital billboards in the street, your computer when you work... New technologies have become, with time, real tools of our life, and not necessarily for the greatest pleasure of your eyes (and your brain!). 

One of the main factors to determine whether or not you need blue light glasses is: how often do you use screens on a daily basis?

If you work in an office environment, chances are you use a computer to work on a daily basis. It will therefore be important to protect your eyes from the blue light of your computer (or any other digital work tool). 

If you are a gamer, it is likely that your exposure to screens is significant and that there is a greater risk of developing blue light related disorders, such as cataracts, AMD (age-related macular degeneration) or sleep disorders. It will therefore be essential for you to reduce as much as possible the flow of blue light that can reach your retina, and this with blue light blocking glasses.  

If you do not fall into any of these categories, it is almost inevitable that you will be exposed to screens during your daily life. Whether it's watching TV in the evening, shopping on the internet or simply spending time on social media with your phone, exposure to screens has become commonplace nowadays.

It is therefore recommended to protect your eyes with every exposure to blue light, no matter how often you use screens. 

Obviously, a person who spends an average of 10 minutes a day in front of a screen will have less risk of developing blue light related disorders than a person who spends 8 hours a day playing video games. 

You have headaches

Have you ever had a headache after spending long hours on your favorite video game? 

If this has ever happened to you, you should know that it is partly due to the blue light that your screen diffuses, which is extremely harmful to your brain.  

Some people may also experience headaches only after a few minutes.  

These headaches can be very painful and prevent you from finishing your work. While there are many causes of headaches, start to identify your own: do they occur at the same time each day? Where do you feel pressure in your head? Around or behind your eyes?

You have sleep disorders 

Many people who use blue light glasses have seen a significant improvement in their ability to fall asleep.  

Sleep disturbances are caused by the way blue light affects your brain. A lot of research shows that, compared to all other types of light, blue light has the most damaging effect on production of melatonin.  

Melatonin is a natural sleep hormone that helps maintain a good circadian rhythm. If you are exposed to unfiltered blue light during the day, blue light glasses can help you avoid these sleep problems.

You have concentration problems

It's hard to stay focused at the end of the day when your eyes have already been working hard looking at blue light emitting digital screens. 

Difficulty concentrating is a key sign that illustrates a real need to get blue light glasses, especially if your job requires you to stay in front of a computer all day and you have little opportunity to reduce that screen time. In this case, it would be reasonable to get a pair of computer glasses in order to reduce eye strain and the effects of blue light.

You have watery eyes

Eye strain can be marked not only by blurred vision, but also by watery eyes. 

Wearing blue light blocking glasses can significantly reduce tearing, which is caused by blue light if you are exposed to it for long hours. 

Your vision is blurred 

If after a long session in front of a computer screen, you notice that your vision is blurred, it is most likely the cause is the blue light from your screen. 

Studies have shown that many employees working on computers have blurred vision after their day is over.  It is also called computer vision syndrome, that is one the main symptoms of digital eye strain.

In this case, it becomes essential to protect your eyes from blue light, whose wavelengths of the light spectrum are extremely harmful. 

You don’t take a break during your work/gaming sessions

The people most likely to suffer from blue light eye strain are those who spend hours in front of the computer without taking a break. 

It is recommended that you take a break at least every hour and step away from digital devices completely. In the digital age, this is becoming increasingly difficult to do, but it's also vital to your ability to protect your eyes from significant fatigue and avoid other disorders.

You can also apply the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break and focus your eyes on something at least 20 feet away. 

Conclusion

The reasons explained above are symptomatic of a lack of protection against blue light from screens. If you notice even one of these symptoms, it becomes urgent to act, and this on the long term. 

As mentioned before, the only solution to prevent this blue light from reaching your retina is to filter it. This is the main function of blue light glasses: their lenses have a filtering capacity (with different filtering rates depending on the range) which consequently reduce the blue light flux. 

Be aware that neither sunglasses nor resting glasses will be effective against artificial light. Choosing the right type of glasses is therefore very important. Blue light filters for computer screens are not as effective as a pair of blue light glasses.

Moreover, if you want to know if your blue light glasses filter effectively, there are several methods, such as the reflection of glasses: position your glasses in front of a blue screen, so that your glasses are in front of the screen. If the reflected color is blue, it means your glasses are filtering blue light well and are effective.

Our brand GMG Performance offers several collections of blue light blocking glasses with different filtering rates. Feel free to visit our website.