Nowadays, most of us stare at our computer screens for long hours throughout the day. This usually causes a common feeling of eye dryness, itching, and strain.
Very often you’d see people wearing what they’d call “computer glasses”. They wear them to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling they get in their eyes caused by staring at a screen for so long.
Screens, to which we’re constantly exposed to due to this age’s technology, produce a significantly large amount of blue rays. Too much exposure to blue rays without any kind of protection for your eyes is very likely to cause vision problems on the long run, hence the dryness and itchiness that we feel.
What’s also worth mentioning about blue light is that it affects sleep negatively. However, researches varied regarding whether the eye strain we feel is because of the exposure to blue rays, or simply because of staring at a screen for too long!
What is Blue Light and How Does It Affect Us?
Generally, light is made of electromagnetic particles that move in waves. These waves produce energy and differ in length and strength. The length of the waves is measured in a unit called “nanometers (nm)”. 1 nanometer equals 1 billionth of a meter. The shorter the wavelength is, the higher the energy it produces.
The human eye only sees and gets affected by the part of the light that is visible to it. “Visible light” is the light we see as colors: violet, green, yellow, blue, orange, red and indigo.
Blue light is very short in length, which results in it producing higher amounts of energy. Therefore, exposure to blue light could cause severe eye damage on the long run.
Sources of blue light include the energy-saving LED and fluorescent lighting, digital devices, electronic devices, and most importantly: the sun.
Natural blue light improves our sleeping patterns, and moods. It also helps increase alertness, and overall feeling of well being. The process of our bodies using and benefiting from it is called the “circadian rhythm”.
Due to how short the wavelength of blue light is and how much energy it produces, it moves/ twinkles easier than longer wavelengths. This twinkling movement causes our eyes to glare, which in turn affects our eye clarity, sharpness and visual contrast.
Having mentioned that, artificial blue light could be one of the reasons for headaches, itchy dry eyes, as well as the continuous feeling of exhaustion and lack of sleep that we feel after spending long hours staring at a screen or an electronic device.
The reason behind our feeling of insomnia after using a computer, a tablet, a smartphone and so on at night is that our bodies mistakenly confuse the blue light rays coming out of them with sunlight. Human bodies produce large amounts of melatonin, which is the hormone that helps control our daily sleeping cycle, and that results in the brain being more alert.
Do Amber Tinted Glasses Block Blue Light?
Yes, they do. Even better, they might contribute to improving your sleeping pattern!
Amber tinted glasses block the blue light waves coming out from the digital and electronic devices that we excessively use. Some studies done have actually proven that people who put on their amber-tinted glasses for around 2 hours before their bedtime get around 30 minutes more sleep than they usually do.
Many people have reported that after they started to wear their blue light blocking glasses, they have become more alert and aware of how long they stared at their screens. This helped to decrease the number of hours they spent using their computers, phones, etc.
Amber/ yellow-tinted glasses are also useful for driving at night. In fact, they could be worn all the time! They minimize the effort that your eyes automatically make when focusing on a screen, hence reducing the stress on them and the feeling of fatigue, itching, dryness and the chances of headaches.
We will be briefly reviewing a pair of THL Sleep Blue Light Blocking Reading Glasses. These are amber-orange computer glasses that have anti eye strain on their lenses. Customer reviews for this product agreed on its comfort and style- if style is an important factor for you.
They come in 3 different styles and colors, 8 different sizes, and are suitable for both women and men. They also happen to block 99.5% of harmful light. The frames are light in weight and pretty fashionable in style.
If worn before bedtime, they will increase your Melatonin levels and improve your ability to sleep. They will protect your eyes as they have 100% UV protection lens.
The pair comes with a protective case and a microfiber cloth and has a 90-day money-back satisfaction guarantee if you changed your mind or don’t like it for any reason.
You could go for cheaper ones, but according to the reviews, those who have gone for cheaper ones had trouble with the fit, size or still suffered eye strain because the coating wasn’t as good.
I would personally go for this one, as my job involves spending long hours of the day in front of my laptop screen. I also suffer from insomnia because of spending at least 2 to 3 hours at night scrolling through my phone before hitting the bed. So this pair of THL Sleep Blue Light Blocking Reading Glasses would do the job for me.
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How Do Blue Light Glasses Work?
The idea behind a good, effective pair of blue light glasses is the coating used on the lens. The lens consists of multiple layers of special protective coatings. Each layer modifies the way the light is reflected in it. The special coatings used in blue light glasses lens are designed to reflect/ absorb the different wavelengths that have been scientifically proven to be the most harmful.
To avoid color malformation, a good pair of blue light glasses would be designed to allow all the visible light wavelengths through, except for the harmful ones.
Blue light glasses come in several colors: Amber/ yellow, orange, and brown/bronze. Amber/ yellow lenses help block harmful blue light rays without giving a dimming effect. In fact, they make the vision clearer and the colors brighter for your eyes.
Should I Wear Computer Glasses?
Only if you suffer from eye strain and/ or any of the other symptoms that we previously mentioned. If you don’t have a problem with your eyes, then computer glasses are not for you.
However, many people might not realize that they do have a problem until they try on some glasses and get a feeling of sudden relief! So, if you catch yourself leaning forward towards the computer screen to see clearer, or trying to see outside the frames of your current glasses, then you definitely need computer glasses.
Are Amber Tinted Glasses Suitable for Me?
Amber tinted glasses are suitable for everyone! With the many previously mentioned benefits, I believe everybody should get a pair. After all, don’t we all wish to lead a calmer, happier life, and get better sleep?