Do Blue-Light Glasses Really Work?
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As with CBD, celery juice cleanses, and apple cider vinegar shots, I was skeptical about blue-light glasses. But I knew that I was having trouble looking at my computer all day under fluorescent lights, only to go home and look at my computer for several more hours and then look at my phone for a while longer until I fell asleep. Point is, I look at my computer too much, and I’m sure that’s not great for me. And I’m not alone: A survey from the Vision Council found that almost 60% of American adults feel some kind of symptom of digital eye strain. Since it seems impossible to divorce ourselves from our computers, wouldn’t a miracle device be awesome? Yes. The Vision Council vaguely recommends using glasses with special lenses to reduce symptoms of eye strain.
I got a pair of blue-light-blocking glasses a few months ago, and used them intermittently while at work, meaning I would put them on when my eyes got too strained and I started to get a headache. It worked, I thought, but not enough that I couldn’t go without them. Then, my sister-in-law and brother came to visit, and long story short, I lent them to my sister-in-law for about a month (she uses blue-light glasses to help with migraine symptoms). In that month, I noticed a difference. I was getting achy and didn’t have a way to stop it. I wanted them back. Now that they’re back, I use them pretty much every day and it feels a lot better.
And yes, skeptics, it could be a placebo. Here’s the thing about blue-light glasses: There’s not a ton of evidence that blue light is what causes eye strain or that you need special equipment to deal with blue light. The American Academy of Ophthalmology doesn’t recommend using any special eyewear for computer use, instead they encourage taking breaks from looking at your screen and sitting 25 inches from your computer screen. Active blue light is everywhere—the sun exposes you to more blue light than your screen—and it is proven to disrupt your circadian rhythm. So where blue-light glasses can be helpful is in reducing the exposure to blue light before you go to bed, aiding in a more restful night. What I do know is that using the glasses helps me make it through looking at a screen for 10 hours a day. My attitude is that, unlike CBD or apple cider vinegar, this has actually been helpful, so I’m going to keep using them. And if you, like me, get headaches and weird pinching sensations behind your eyes, maybe you should give them a shot too.
