Gaming is fun and has become more popular than ever before. However, the truth is that all those hours streamers spend in front of the screen can be detrimental to their health. Screens emit high-energy blue light that is not only harmful to your eyes but their overall health as well. That’s why many of them wear blue light filter glasses to shield them from the harms of blue light so they can rest knowing that they’re safe. This article will explain why you need blue light glasses, how they work, and how you can filter blue light from your devices.
Why Do You Need Blue Light Glasses?
Blue light is one of the light rays that make up visible light and it’s found between 380 to 500 nanometres on the electromagnetic spectrum. It has one of the shortest wavelengths and highest energy contents. It is naturally emitted by the sun and artificially produced by electronic gadgets like laptops, smartphones, desktop computers, tablets, LED lighting bulbs, and TVs.
While blue light from the sun helps in controlling your circadian rhythm, boosting your moods, alertness, and other cognitive functions, artificial blue light is not good for you. If you’re overexposed to it as streamers often are, then you may experience some health problems. Some of the issues that may arise from excessive exposure to blue light are:
Eye Problems
After hours of gaming or working on your computer, have you ever felt pain, dryness, or fatigue in your eyes? Well, that’s actually a condition known as digital eye strain or computer vision syndrome that’s caused by prolonged use of digital devices. It also causes headaches and pains in the neck, back, and shoulders. When it occurs, it can affect your productivity at work and hinder you from enjoying your gaming. Digital eye strain is a result of the blue light from digital devices that your eyes are sensitive to.
Macular degeneration is yet another eye condition that overexposure to blue light can cause. It’s characterized by the breaking down of cells in the retina resulting in blurred vision. Macular degeneration typically occurs when you grow old but blue light can make it appear earlier in life. When medical help is not sought early enough, it could deteriorate to blindness.
Sleep Problems
When the sun gives off blue light in the morning, your eye’s retina receives it and sends a message to the brain to stop the release of melatonin, the hormone that induces sleep. When the blue light is absent at night, your brain releases melatonin that prepares your body to sleep by making you drowsy.
When you expose yourself to blue light at night, your brain suppresses melatonin instead of releasing it because it thinks it’s still daytime. Therefore, your body ends up taking a long time to sleep, making you suffer from insomnia.
Health Problems
When you don’t get enough sleep, your body reacts by developing various health issues because it is dependent on sleep for optimal health. These include diabetes, depression, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and some types of cancers.
How Blue Light Glasses Work
Do anti blue light glasses work or are they overrated? They certainly do! Blue light glasses or computer glasses are made with a special material that blocks blue light from getting to your eyes. They can either block all light or part of it. Those that block all light are usually tinted yellow while those that block partial blue light are clear. You can go for either type depending on your needs. For glasses that block all blue light, they are best worn at night to ensure that you are able to get quality sleep. If you wear them during the day, they can cause visibility problems; instead, you should wear clear glasses so that you can clearly make your way around. You should wear these as you stream or work on your PC during the day to reduce eye strain and protect your eyes from overexposure.
Other factors that you can consider when buying anti-blue light glasses are those with anti-glare coating, UV-A and UV-B protection from sunlight, comfortable frames, a good warranty, and something that suits your style.
Alternative Blue Light Filtering Options
Computer glasses are not the only option to filter out blue light. A few other methods you can use include:
- Screen protectors – These are physical filters that you can fit over your computer or other devices to block blue light from reaching our eyes. They can also provide protection from mechanical damage to your screens or an anti-glare coating to save you from eye strain. You can get a blue light filter for PC, smartphone, tablet, or laptop.
- Blue light Apps – Most modern devices nowadays come with blue light filtering applications in them. You can simply turn them on and off at the appropriate times or set them to go on and off automatically at specific times.
Blue light glasses provide you the freedom of streaming without worrying about the consequences of blue light exposure. Therefore, for your streaming or gaming needs, get yourself a good pair of computer glasses today!
