Are Blue Light Glasses Worth It?
- YiLan Nelson
- Jun 13, 2021
- 3 min read
A few months into the pandemic I began to notice that after staring at my screen for more than 30 minutes I would feel light headed and my eyes felt wigged out. I figured this was because of all the screen time I had been doing and had heard about blue light glasses. I had seen them everywhere and thought that they were a fashion statement rather than serving an actual purpose. But after a little bit of research I realized that they help protect your eyes from the damaging blue light that is emitted from screens. I found this pretty cool and necessary since I was surrounded by screens pretty much the whole day.
The Company
So I eventually bit the bullet and got a pair that were surprisingly cheap. I am not much of an online shopper, because I like to get the full shopping/user experience by shopping in person, but the glasses blew away my expectations. The glasses I got was from a company called Wear Me Pro where they focus on fashionable eyewear. The glasses I got are called Quinn and cost $25 (picture below is what they look like).
The cool thing I found about Wear Me Pro was that since they are a fashion eyewear company, they have many designs and colors you can choose from.
My Experience
From my experience so far they have made my eyes feel softer? I am not sure if that makes sense, but my eyes definitely feel like there is not as much direct light hitting them. When I am not wearing the blue light glasses and am staring at screens, it feels as if I am staring at the sun or in the vicinity of the sun. The glasses make looking at screens for 3+ hours a breeze. I will say that when I first put the glasses on I was not expecting the tint, but once I look at the screen the tint is nonexistent. Looking away from the screen and doing day to day tasks is a little harder since the tint makes everything look duller than it is. The tint is the blue light film that is embedded into the glasses so if you see a slight difference with the glasses on, then that most likely means they are working. Another way to see the blue light film is to view them from an angle with light hitting them.
The science
A study by professor Dr. Mark Rosenfield from College of Optometry at State University of New York found that people who were unaware of which glasses were blue light or clear glasses did not notice a difference, and "that the blue-blocking filters produced no significant change in symptoms of digital eye strain". Rosenfield later says in the NPR interview that "the only thing [blue light glasses] may be good for is that studies have shown the blue light can interfere with our bodies' light cycle". Essentially Rosenfield is saying is that since the blue light glasses interfere with the clock that tells you when to sleep or stay awake, the blue light glasses will make you stay awake for longer periods of time.
Ophthalmologist Rishi Singh in an article explains why people feel discomfort from their screens and says that the blue light emitted from screens does not cause eye issues but that it comes from Computer Vision Syndrome. Dr. Singh further explains that “When we focus our eyes on something close up, like a screen or even a book, our eyes are strained and contracted, which can cause eye discomfort." (ClevelandClinic.org)
Are they worth it?
While the science says that blue light glasses are not that helpful, Dr. Singh also mentions that there has not been "a lot of research done with blue light blocking glasses,” so I would take it with a grain of salt. Plus there is no telling what type of blue light glasses they used in there studies, from what companies they got them from, etc.
I know for my friends and me they have helped lessen headaches, light headedness, and strain on the eyes. Maybe it is the placebo effect, but I would say it varies from person to person.
For $25 I would recommend the Wear Me Pro blue light glasses just to see if they are effective. I found that after a week of really using the glasses (5+ hours a day), I found it easier to look at my screens. The company has a 14 day return policy which does not go into effect until you receive the item.
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