Importance of Blue Light Lenses for Digital Screen Protection

Many people who admit to pain, fatigue, and dryness in their eyes after staring at a screen for an extended period purchase computer glasses to ease these symptoms. Although these lenses help to reduce irritation, they do not entirely resolve them. Some still have these symptoms. The reason is that the computer glasses do not block the harmful blue light rays that irritate your eyes.

Understanding Blue Light

Blue light is visible light emitted by digital device screens that have high energy. The devices we use every day (such as smartphones, tablets, TV screens, and laptops) emit blue light. Artificial fluorescent lighting and the sun also produce this blue light. Although device usage gives the most irritation, the sun is the greatest blue light source.

Blue light is a short wavelength of light between 380nm and 500nm. The shorter the wavelength, the more energy the light ray contains. The most popular known short-wavelength light is ultraviolet, UV, light. After a day’s exposure to the sun, this light burns your eyes or your skin. Now imagine the same effect on your eyes. Although blue light is not as intense as UV light, it produces the same adverse effect.

Blue Light Effects

Essentially, blue light harms your eyes. Exposure to it just before your bedtime knocks off your circadian rhythm. You may experience dry eyes, headaches, eyestrain, and eye fatigue. Blue light increases your risk of developing some cancers, premature cataracts, and age-related macular degeneration.

But certain blue light strains are helpful to you. They help regulate your sleep cycle and boost your alertness, cognitive function, and memory. The blue light lenses only block the harmful rays and allow the useful ones to pass through.

Use the Blue Light Lenses Indoors and Outdoors

Much of your exposure to blue light is indoors due to digital devices, but there’s a need to take precautions outdoors too. Protect your eyes from blue light UV light. So besides filtering blue light, add a feature to protect your eye from harmful ultraviolet rays. For example, if you wear prescription lenses, take up protective lens coatings. The coating blocks the harmful blue light, giving you the benefits of your prescription lenses.

You could also take up photochromic lenses. They are evident in low-light conditions but become darker when the light intensity increases. You could also get transitioning lenses, which protect you from UV and harmful blue light from the sun or digital devices.

Are There Age Requirements?

There are no age requirements for wearing blue light lenses. You can get them for yourself and for your children. Children, especially those under age 12, are susceptible to sun damage. Their eyes have yet to finish building a natural protective barrier. Ensure that the child’s eyes are shielded both indoors and outdoors.

These days, it’s important that you protect your eyes from harmful blue light. We use digital screen devices more than we did in the previous decades, which has heightened exposure risk. Visit the Miller Vision Center in Norman, Oklahoma, to get your pair of blue light lenses. You can also call (405) 389-4200 to request an appointment.