Do blue light blocking glasses really help?
I'm gettig a lot more screen time than I used to, and so I've been considering blue light blocking glasses. If you're team blue light glasses, do you have any other rituals to help alleviate dry eyes and eye strain?
Answers ( 2 )
Yes, blue-light-blocking does help. The bright blue cast to light is stimulating to the body, and can be stressful to the eyes and body when you're looking at a monitor or screen for hours a day. But adjusting the brightness down lower can be very effective in cutting down the impact of blue light. And setting up night lighting for your monitor is also beneficial. I wouldn't buy the glasses before trying to adjust your screens first. Reduce the brightness down as much as you can see comfortably. Go to the lowest setting that you can easily read, then bring it up just a bit at a time. I can't speak to where that setting is on your devices because it's different for devices but look for display brightness. And next, look for night light settings. You can adjust the time, and the color for the night settings, and adjust to what's comfortable for you.
On my own devices, I've got them all set for night lighting starting in the evening through to about 7 a.m., but not the dark amber color that's the default setting. I've just toned down the blue enough to be easier on the eyes.
There's also an app you can get called f.lux, that you can use to adjust your display - https://justgetflux.com/
So, before spending any money on glasses, use the functions that are built in to your devices.
On a laptop with Windows 10, this is what the Display settings look like in the settings menu -
No, blue light blocking glasses and other sort of blue filters is an intentional marketing scam based on a very weak evidence that blue light (basically, sky in daytime) may disrupt sleep.
To repeat one of the many quotes from the reviews gathered by SBM
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/blue-light-blocking-glasses-how-much-of-the-hype-is-science-based/
"The best scientific evidence currently available does not support the use of blue-blocking spectacle lenses in the general population to improve visual performance, alleviate the symptoms of eye fatigue or visual discomfort, improve sleep quality or conserve macula health."