How Wearing Blue Light Blocking Glasses Has Helped Me
I’m someone who works on computers for the majority of my day, and while I make sure that I take enough breaks away from the screen, I’ll always be at some risk of fatigue. Not only have I been trying to work on my posture by doing some back exercises, but I’ve also started wearing blue light blocking glasses to help take away the strain on my eyes from the computer screen.
My mother always told me that my eyes would be bad when I got older, because my interest in computers started at a young age (before they were the norm), but like most young people, I was ignorant and paid her no mind. My eyesight isn’t exactly bad now, but over the past few years I’ve become slightly short-sighted, having trouble reading signs at a distance. It’s not bad enough that I can’t survive a day without wearing my glasses, but I’ve started getting used to wearing them, largely because they’ve given me a new look.
But stylistics aside, I’ve discovered a new type of glasses that have had tangible benefits to my daily lifestyle. Wearing blue light blocking glasses in the evening has led to me feeling better rested, and possibly less anxious.
How do blue light blocking glasses work?
Naturally, our bodies associate blue light with the daytime. Even before TVs and computers existed, we received blue light all day long from the sun. But once night time hits, our bodies are wired to take in less blue light in order to help us rest. But when you’re grinding at the computer like I am, it’s not unusual to still be at the computer way into the AM.
All this blue light exposure after dark is particularly bad for the eyes. It causes your eyes to become tired, and as a result your brain works overtime. By the time you do go to sleep, your brain can’t get enough of the rest it needs because it’s been overworked. That’s why you probably still feel tired sometimes, even after getting a full eight hours of sleep.
Blue light glasses have been a miracle for me because ever since I started using them in the evening, my sleep has been more peaceful and on some days I’m waking up way ahead of my alarm, feeling fully rested. And a fully rested mind can deal with things like anxiety much easier.
The glasses probably aren’t as effective during the day because that’s when your body is expecting to receive the blue light, but if you’re like me and you’re looking at screens well into the night, I recommend purchasing some blue light glasses right away. These are the ones I have, but there are a huge selection with all different types of styles.
Blue light from smartphones
These glasses help with blue light from any screen, but all smartphones now have a blue light blocking feature. I’m unsure about Android, but on iOS this feature is built in. It allows you to schedule when you want the screen to shift to night mode, so that your screen will shift the colours of your display. You simply have to go to Settings > Display & Brightness > Night Shift and here you’ll be able to set up your schedule.
I still wear my glasses even when using my iPhone in night mode, but if you don’t have the glasses yet, this is something that could help you in the meantime if you’re mainly looking at smartphone screens at night time.
Blocking blue light during the night is something that will help everyone, but my Sickle Cell Warriors all know that it’s super important that we get enough restful sleep to help our body deal with the pain. Give this a try ASAP.
