How does blue light harm your eyes and what is the solution?

In this high-tech digital age, everyone has digital addiction. And the pandemic has only made it worse. While we recklessly indulge in extended hours of screen time, we forget that the price is paid by our eyes.

You may think that you have control over your addiction, but think about all the screen you devote your time to in a day. From your smartphones to the laptops or computers in your office, it’s hard to keep track of how much time we spend every day on these devices.

If you don’t know it, let us tell you that your devices emit harmful blue light which kind of has a bad reputation of ruining your eye health. Let’s know more about it.

What is blue light?

Blue light is one of the many lights that our eyes could see. It is there in the sunlight and is regarded as vicious due to its short wavelengths and high-energy rays.

As this light travels in short waves, they are more harmful to your skin and body than any other type of light. While it’s true that the natural blue light which we get from the sun is beneficial in boosting our alertness and reaction times, our eyes hate the artificial blue light coming from our devices.

How does blue light affect your eyes?

If you think that blue light is a fad that parents have created to keep their kids away from screens, you are wrong. It’s everywhere from your offices to your room to a lovely sunny day.

Here is what happens to your eyes when you spend a little more time on your device than you should:

Digital eye strain

Ever had to put up with headaches or eye pain after using your devices for too long? These are just some of the symptoms of digital eye strain.

As we have mentioned that blue light has short waves, they reduce the contrast when we are looking at a screen. As a result, our eyes have to work a lot harder every time we shift our focus from the screen and look back at it.

This extra workout for your eyes leaves them exhausted after a couple of hours and you feel those highly uncomfortable symptoms of digital eye strain.

If you want to tackle this problem (which you should), wear blue light glasses when you are using a screen. They have a protective coating on their lenses that filter out the blue eyes so our eyes don’t absorb them.

They are the best thing you can possibly give to your eyes. And you don’t have to pay a big amount to buy them. Blue light glasses in the UK are available at affordable prices at online stores. Go, check them out.

Sleep disruption

Blue light is also infamous for getting in the way of your beauty sleep. Studies have shown that exposure to blue light during the day or night interferes with the production of melatonin hormone which your body needs to go to sleep.

Moreover, staring at screens at night can lead to an even bigger problem called insomnia. As blue light ruins your circadian rhythm, your body does not function according to its internal clock.

If you’ve been wearing blue light glasses while using screens throughout the day, you don’t have to worry about not getting enough sleep in the night. As we have said that these glasses block blue light, it won’t be able to disrupt your circadian rhythm and you can still sleep well.

If you are not interested in buying a separate pair of blue blockers, you can add the blue light filter to your prescription glasses lenses. It will help you see the screen clearly without letting the blue light in.

Eye conditions

Blue light does more than temporary eye pain and sleep disruption. In the long run, blue light is able to increase your risk of vision-threatening disorders and some of them are known as macular degeneration and cataracts.

Also, as you get older or say turn 40, the natural elasticity of your eyes gets diminished. You may find it difficult to look at nearby things clearly. Activities like reading or sewing will be a real struggle for you. Not only this, you won’t be able to see the screen clearly assuming you don’t sit too far from the screen.

In this scenario, you need to get reading glasses online that also have blue light filters. Where the magnification lenses will enhance your near vision, the blue light filter will protect your ageing eyes from the harms of digital devices.

Now that you know how vicious the blue light can get, do not leave your eyes bare in front of your screen. Protect them from blue light just how you protect them from UV light.