Blue Light Blocking Glasses – Do They Work? Are They Necessary?
Do You Believe a Blue Light Myth?
Are blue light blocking glasses a gimmick, or is the blue light from phones and computer screens actually harmful to our eyes? Will your eyes be permanently damaged over time, without blue light blocking glasses? And do blue light filter apps really protect our eyes?
Maybe they are not even necessary… Hmm…. Is it even conceivable that maybe blue light lenses for glasses are a scam?! Could it be we have been believing a blue light myth?
And what about blue light messing with your sleep? Does being on your computer right before bedtime cause insomnia, or is this yet another myth?
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Are Blue Light Glasses a Scam?
Let’s find out how effective blue light filters are at protecting our eyes, and whether or not blue light blocking glasses are just a gimmick, and if blue light is even as bad for our eyes as we have been told.
And while we’re at it, let’s pick a bone with those blue light filter apps for your phone, and see if blue light filter apps are effective, or if they are indeed even necessary.
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Are Blue Light Filter Apps Effective? Are They Even Necessary?
Do blue light filter apps really protect our eyes?
These are a lot of questions to answer, but fortunately of all of them, maybe only two of them we will really need to answer. And those are the questions of whether or not blue light is even harmful to our eyes in the first place, and whether or not computer screens have an effect on our melatonin levels, causing us to have trouble falling asleep at night.
There are solid studies I will point to as we tackle both questions. But let’s address the first question first.
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Blue Light Does Not Damage Your Eyes
Blue light from electronic devices does not harm your eyes, anymore than the blue light from sunshine does (or UV light, for that matter). Which means yes, blue light blocking glasses are a gimmick! They will certainly try hard to upsell you on them when you go to get new glasses, though.
The truth is, there is no solid scientific evidence at all to support blue light from computer, smart phone or TV screens causing any damage to our eyes. The light emitted from these devices is not intense enough to cause retinal damage to our eyes, as the video above explains. The amount of blue light that comes from the sun is far greater than that which comes from your device screens. And the sun doesn’t damage your eyes, either!
What Actually Damages Our Eyes?
We were made to see best in the daylight. By removing blue light and shifting screens more to red (or yellow), we’re causing certain parts of our eye to work harder, potentially causing actual problems, like eye strain and headaches. These strains can also be caused by turning down the brightness on your device’s screen too much and trying to focus. Doing these things is not necessary, and is likely the real causes of your problems.
We’re also not meant to be staring at something as small as a phone screen for hours at a time. There was a time when this would have been considered common sense.
Damage to the eyes is a result of what we eat, other environmental factors, and corrective lenses being worn for long durations. The eyes can be strained from focusing on anything for long periods of time. Like reading a book. But if blue light (or UV light) were so terrible, why would the sun emit them?
Our eyes were designed to receive blue light and ultraviolet light.
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Does Late Night Computer Use Cause Insomnia?
Staring at computer screens for long periods of time does cause many people eye strain, due to the flickering and alternating rapidly of pixelated images on the screen. But this has nothing to do with blue light.
But do computer screens have an effect on our levels of melatonin, causing trouble getting to sleep?
There is no science backing blue light filters helping you sleep (in fact, the opposite seems to be true). It very much seems that using your computer late at night does not cause insomnia. Prof Michael Gradisar did a study which concludes that blue light from computer screens at night does not in fact cause a person to have trouble falling asleep at night:
BLUE SCREEN LIGHT IS THE NUMBER 1 SLEEP MYTH OF OUR TIME
“This is so close to zero, that it means that the claim of blue screen light causing us to take longer to fall asleep is not true. But because the complete opposite is prevalent across the internet, it means this concept has turned into a sleep myth. That’s right – we currently have one of the biggest sleep myths ever! More so than ‘the best sleep is the sleep before midnight’, and ‘REM sleep is a deep sleep’”.
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What Does Cause Insomnia?
Maybe you fall into one or more categories of what actually causes insomnia.
There are 3 factors that cause insomnia, according to sleep specialist Beatrix A. Schmidt. In the following video, she breaks down these 3 factors that cause insomnia, which are:
- Predisposing factors (prior medical conditions, mental health conditions, past traumas)
- Precipitating factors (worries, possible accumulative factors you possibly hadn’t considered)
- Perpetuating factors (how you think about your ability to sleep, assuming negative scenarios, behaviors / mindsets, bedtime rituals)
This video will be a good starting point for a person suffering from insomnia who feels lost as to what to do. Without understanding what might be causing your insomnia (and knowing what isn’t causing it!) would seem to me a great place to start… 3 factors that cause insomnia and how understanding these can help you overcome chronic insomnia
So, it would stand to reason then that the development of mood, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorders would have insomnia as the fundamental risk factor. These findings were originally published in the leading scientific journal, “Brain“.
Here is another quite fascinating article about insomnia, which asserts that insomnia could be caused primarily by “a failing neutralization of emotional distress“:
How Blue Light Is Beneficial
According to the Harvard University’s Health Letter, blue light wavelengths are “beneficial…because they boost attention, reaction times, and mood.”
Blue light helps to regulate the body’s natural circadian rhythms. It has also been found to be beneficial in treating Seasonal Affective Disorder.
And:
- Boosts alertness
- Elevates positive mood
- Helps regulate sleep cycles / circadian rhythm
- Helps cognitive functions, including focus and memory
- Kills bacteria
- Reduces fatigue
- Alleviates jaundice in newborn babies
- Good for skin conditions like eczema and acne
- Is antibacterial (including the kind that cause gastritis)
Blue light is part of the light spectrum for a reason.
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Summary
Fortunately we didn’t have to answer most of the common questions that inquisitive minds might inquire about, like whether or not blue light blocking glasses are a gimmick, or if blue light filter apps really protect our eyes. The truth is, blue light being damaging to the eyes and blue light causing insomnia are both myths, which renders the other questions of no practical importance. And people are starting to figure out this and many other commonly-believed lies.
Like everything else, the truth always comes out in the wash. But we try to expediate the truth for you!
I hope you will make a habit of hanging out with us here at Un-Pharma True Health and Wellness, if you don’t already. We are all about the truth, and we will introduce you to our network of other sources for health and wellness truth, if you are newly on this path. If this is the case, welcome. It is amazing!
Thanks, my friend.
Although I had heard of Blue Light, I hadn’t really taken any notice of it or its alleged effect on the eyes, To me, it was one of those things that made the news on a slow news day. But like all of these allegations, something stuck in the back of my mind which warned me of the problems. It was, therefore, good to read your article and to put my mind at rest. I’m sure that many others will feel the same way,
I personally spend an average of about 12 hours a day staring at a computer screen and have never had any problem of any kind. But evidently some people are affected by the flicker and just general strain on the eyes. And, of course the EMF radiation can have bad effects on people. But blue light damaging the eyes is in fact a myth, and special lenses to block blue light will just cause more strain, due to your eyes having to compensate for not receiving that part of the spectrum, which our eyes are designed to see.
A very interesting topic here and one I myself believed in. It’s interesting that you say the blue light doesn’t harm our eyes but the amount of time staring at a screen, all of which is definitely true but would you say that blue light glasses can protect an eye if someone is spending too long staring at a screen?
I’m glad to hear you still have common sense. It seems to have been long-surrendered by many people, in favor of being told everything, like little children…
I’m glad you found the article helpful. Keep alert and on your toes, Jannette!
I was curious about the blue eye myth and being told about computers phones mess up are eyes that is how I found your article and has helped me understand the topic better. Common sense already had me doubting this myth, as you mentioned we are made to see sunlight everyday and to block out certain colors will cause strain on our eyes. This article was very helpful and thanks for sharing.
Yes, the EMFs are another story.
Thanks for your comments, and I’m glad you are on the ball!
With modern technology and the amount of devices that emit blue light, it has invariably opened up doudoubt with many people as to whether it might be harmful for us. And it also means that manufacturers might try and sell you products based on a myth, that you might not necessarily need.
Personally I find that too much screen time late at night might affect my sleep, but it is not because of the blue light, but rather being overstimulated. Electromagnetic waves from mobile devices are more damaging than blue light, so I put my phone on flight mode at night. Thank you for busting the myth on blue light.