Do blue light glasses actually work? Everything you need to know before you buy a pair

LOS ANGELES – With the amount of time we spend on our devices increasing, it's probably no surprise to you that staring at a screen for long periods can hurt your eyes.

A new product is emerging to help reduce potential side effects of being glued to a screen all day – blue light glasses that filter or absorb rays from sources of blue light such as phones and computer screens.

They are being sold by eye care professionals, designer brands and they’re even available on Amazon for around $20 in different colors and styles to look like everyday eyewear. Blue light filtering is also available as an add-on to prescription and reader glasses.

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Although digital devices emit blue light at a low frequency not likely to damage vision, prolonged exposure can lead to insomnia, abnormal sleep patterns and eye strain, according to Dr. Samuel Pierce, president of the American Optometric Association.

“Eye strain in and of itself will not cause permanent damage – there’s no long-term lasting effects from eye strain,” said Pierce. “It typically goes away when you stop the activities that are creating the eye strain.”

The problem is we aren't. Whether at work or off, we spend a lot of time looking at a screen of some sort. According to The Vision Council – a group of eye care professionals who promote the importance of vision health – 80%of American adults are spending over two hours on a digital device a day with 67% using two or more devices at the same time. Last year, contact lens provider Acuvue found that the average office worker spends 1,700 hours a year in front of a screen. 

Eye strain is a common side effect of looking at a screen for too long and can lead to headaches, neck or shoulder pain and blurred vision. Both the Vision Council and Pierce recommend using blue light glasses to make it easier to look at a screen and alleviate these symptoms if you associate your eye strain with digital use.

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The biggest source of blue light is the sun, which signals our body to be and stay awake. Melatonin is produced when blue light becomes less extreme, like when the sun goes down, and it helps us fall asleep. However, with artificial blue light emanating from our phones and computers, it becomes more confusing for the body to know when to produce melatonin and, therefore, more difficult to fall asleep.

In addition to wearing blue light glasses, there are other ways to avoid blue light. A popular product is a blue light filtering screen protectors for both phones and computers, which filter blue light emitted from a screen from whoever looks at it. Smartphones also have settings that filter out blue light from their screen. They can be set to automatically turn on during certain hours of the day and also can be manually activated if the user is experiencing symptoms of eyestrain. 

To schedule blue light filtering on iPhones, go to Settings > Display & Brightness > Night Shift and select the hours you would like to filter out blue light. You can also swipe up on the screen to the Control Center and hold the brightness bar, which will allow you to turn on the filtering manually. 

For Android users, it can be found at Settings > Display > Blue light filter. Using the slider, you can control the amount of filtering manually. You can also schedule the filter to be in effect from sunset to sunrise, or put in custom hours of filtering. Other phones usually have blue light filtering options that can be found under display settings. 

The filters are most effective when they block 30% to 60% of blue light, as some blue light can be beneficial. Ocushield, a blue light screen protector company, suggests filters should be used as a preventative measure to avoid eye strain and insomnia. It can particularly be helpful to use blue light filtering at night since blue light keeps us awake.

Pierce suggests adjusting your work area to relieve any potential causes of eyestrain, such as keeping a computer at a good distance, making sure the screen doesn’t produce glare from overhead lights and it’s just below eye level.

The AOA recommends working by the 20/20/20 rule – which states to look away from a device every 20 minutes and stare at least 20 feet away from you for 20 seconds to relieve the eye constraints. They also recommend getting a comprehensive eye exam if eye strain continues despite preventative measures.

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