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Blue light glasses are non-prescription glasses that help reduce digital eyestrain from screen time. Digital eyestrain is caused when the human eye is overexposed to blue light, or high energy visible wavelengths (HEV). I'm definitely not a scientific expert about the different types of light, but I found this article to be very helpful in explaining the difference between natural and artificial light. Blue light can something naturally occurring and does occur outdoors from sunlight. However, the type of blue light that's emitted artificially (such as from screens and technology) can be harsh on the eyes when you're exposed to it for hours on end. It is important to note that blue light is not "bad" for your eyes... it won't damage or alter your vision to be exposed to a lot of it. However, taking in a lot of blue light each day with your natural eye can lead to things like headaches/migraines, temporarily blurred vision and/or watery eyes, and difficulty concentrating.
Staring in front of a screen for hours; does that sound like something familiar to you? It definitely does for me! As a morning radio host, I spend 5-6 hours each weekday morning sitting in front of not one, but four computer monitors. And after that it's off to my desk computer to do more work, and then once I leave my day job I'm at home working on my blog on my laptop, and also being on my phone quite a bit. Not to mention watching TV or being around other sources of blue light! The hours add up fast. While I don't find that digital eyestrain bothered me too much in the past, it definitely has since my work schedule changed when I became a morning radio co-host. Waking up at 3:30 for work and being at work before 5 is pretty tough to begin with, and I started finding that since it was so early in morning, I was starting to get regular headaches at work, which made it really hard to focus on doing my day job well. I got my first pair of blue light glasses in March, and after I wore them to work for the first week I was amazed at the difference they made for me! I now wear them all the time at work, and somewhat at home as well when I'm working on my blog. These glasses don't alter my vision in any way (I have 20/20 eyesight), but they make the screens that I'm looking at feel a bit "softer" if that makes sense. I can say with 100% honesty that I have not gotten a headache at work since I started wearing them daily! A few mornings I've actually arrived at work with a bit of one, and after a couple hours with my glasses on I feel better! It's incredible.
My first pair of blue light glasses were actually gifted from DIFF. While they work wonderfully, I didn't end up loving the style. My DIFF pair isn't pictured in this post but they look like this if you're curious! I thought they looked kinda cool and hipster on the website... but once I got my pair they looked like grandpa glasses actually on me. #notcute 😅Last month I was given a gift certificate in a blogger mail package to the online glasses retailer Zenni, and I used that to purchase my second pair (this style), which I like much better! These are the ones I'm wearing in the photo above. Both the DIFF and Zenni glasses work great though. Since I prefer the style of my Zenni ones, I keep that pair in my work bag, and the DIFF pair has become the ones I use at home for blogging! Amazon also has a huge variety of blue light glasses. I've heard from different friends that most of the cheap ones on there work fine! I've linked a bunch below for you:
Have you hopped on the blue light glasses train yet? I honestly think that anyone who spends a lot of time at a screen each day (which let's face it, is most of us in 2019!) should grab a pair to try out. I only wish I'd started using these sooner- I could've saved myself a lot of early morning headaches this winter at work!
Looking forward to sharing another favorite thing of mine in next Tuesday's post!! Here is the first post in this monthly series if you missed it. 😊
God Bless,
xoxo Annaliese
i have heard so many great things about these blue glasses and for someone whose always on her computer i may need to try this out asap!
ReplyDeleteOh wow I really need to try these! I look at a computer all day at work then come to stare at my screen to blog. I tried some special blue light contacts, but they hurt my eyes. I need to try these glasses instead.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who looks at my computer ALL day these need to be in my life!
ReplyDeleteI have a pair of blue light glasses and they are the best! I love those pair on you - the shape fits your face perfectly!
ReplyDeleteOkay, I had NEVER heard of these types of glasses. I am in awe, but since we’re all around blue lights, I’m not surprised they made these glasses! Not to mention they look super cute on ya!
ReplyDeleteI have a pair of blue light glasses, but don't wear that as often as I should. I didn't like the style of them once I got them in. But will check out the sites you mention to see if I can find a pair like.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info. I need to try these. I’m often on the computer all day long and I definitely end up with a headache. I’ll be ordering a pair of glasses soon!
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to get a pair for a while now! I just might have to now!
ReplyDeleteI hope before you ordered any blue light blocking glasses that you first got your eyes tested to see if you may also need a prescription in your glasses as well.
DeleteI absolutely love my blue light glasses- wearing them as I type this haha! I definitely am on my laptop too much for school and it definitely helps protect my eyes!
ReplyDeletexoxo,
Katie
chicincarolina.blogspot.com
At this point you have already had and I assume been wearing your blue light blocking glasses for the past few months. I'm a retired optician and it's very true the value of having and wearing blue light blocking lenses are great for relaxing the eyes as well as reducing eyestrain and limiting headaches. But based on your description of your typical work day you're over stressing your eyes badly. That much time spent with your eyes staring at so many screens for so long is sure to damage your eyes. I know that you said that you have 20/20 vision, or at least you did back in June, but that is almost certain to change in the near future. Here is something I read that you should know. A major university did a study not long ago and they found that 74% of the population now either wears glasses or contacts and that didn't even take into account for those that had lasik to correct their vision. That same university did the same study back in 2008 and at that time the percentage was 62%. That's a huge increase in just 10 years time. Ophthalmologist as well as optometrist are in total agreement that the main reason for such an increase is mainly due to nearly everyone's eyes being so over exposed to so many screens. With as much close work as your eyes are doing I highly suggest that you get yearly eye exams. Doing close work will result in myopia. otherwise known as "nearsightedness" So if you start to notice things at a distance not being as clear and sharp as they have always been it won't be your imagination. It will be because you're going to be needing glasses to correct your nearsightedness. You can of course still get your glasses from Zenni, in fact I am a big fan of their glasses myself. You can the blue light coating along with whatever prescription you're going to need for your nearsightedness. The good news is that you're already used to wearing glasses pretty much all the time anyway so having prescription lenses shouldn't be a major difference except that you will probably need to wear glasses for driving.
ReplyDelete