Do Blue Light Blocking Glasses Work?

Glasses to Block Blue Light

Blue light blocking, glasses to block blue light, or blue light protection - there’s buzz about these lately. And for good reason. You likely spend a good portion of your day looking at a screen. Here’s what you need to know about using these glasses to protect your eyes from eye strain:

The GOOD

1. They work

2. They can improve sleep

3. You can get them everywhere, even online

The BAD

1. Not all are made equal

2. Few offer legitimate protection

Let’s first define what we mean by glasses to block blue light:

Have no fear because technology (and style!) have evolved since then. The idea behind glasses to block blue light absorb or reflect out blue light (if you want the gritty detail, it blocks the wavelength range of 380-450nm).

Why is blue light bad for us? They’re not “bad” for us per se because we’re exposed to many kinds of lights daily. BUT, our eyes are naturally designed to focus green, yellow, or red better than blue.

The image here is showing that red and green naturally focuses closer to our retina at the back of our eye, which is a good thing if you want to see clearly. Blue light on the other hand tends to focus in front of the retina and is seen as blurry or out of focus, which leads to:

• eye strain

• squinting

• tired eyes

• headaches

So, with this knowledge eye nerds united and designed lenses that cut down blue light wavelengths. Glasses to block blue light: come in two types:

Lens Coating

Pros - cheaper, easy to find

Cons - not effective, purple/blue reflection, 20% or less of blue blocking

Embedded within Lens Material

Pros - filters 80-100% of blue light, no blue/purple reflection

Cons - few places offer it, costs more, trace yellow hue - barely seen by naked eye

Which is better? Our Optometrist would say option #2. We’re seeing tons of places offering people an upgrade for $$ like a side of fries, so it’s great that people can easily get their eyes protected. But, the problem is that what your eyes would really benefit are from Order #2.

Where you can you find these? Well… you can find option 2 at Respect Eyecare in Inglewood Calgary.

So, do glasses to block blue light work? Yes they do. We’re excited to offer the real deal for your eyes. We carry an onsite demo kit that can show you the difference between how much our glasses to block blue light work compared to alternative options. Come see for yourself. About The Author Dr. Steven Hoang received his Doctor of Optometry at the University of Waterloo. He serves as the owner and full-time eye doctor of Inglewood and Ramsay at Respect Eyecare. His special interest is in contact lenses and dry eye syndrome.