Have blue light glasses been helping us avoid the adverse effects of the pandemic screen time?
As we, in lockdown, have spent more time staring at our mobile devices, laptops, and other digital screens -- blue light glasses have become essential to most of us.
According to Medscape, "Despite the lack of conclusive evidence, the glasses actually reduce eyestrain" or shield us from the impacts of blue light.
The said medical news site also indicated that Zenni, an optical company claimed its sales for Blokz, a blue-light-blocking product, have increased by 60 percent annually for the past two years, with almost "a million pairs sold in 2020 alone."
The glasses, an official from the optical company said, were already a famous product among gamers and workers. However, he added, most certainly, "the pandemic has had a pronounced effect on sales," with almost all people absorbing "more and more digital light than ever before."
What the American Academy of Ophthalmology Says
According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, we don't need blue light glasses. It also went on record and made a non-recommendation on wearing "any kind of special eyewear for computer users."
The organization elaborated, the blue light coming from our digital gadgets does not result in eye disease. It does not lead to eyestrain, either. The problems we're complaining are merely results of our overuse of gadgets.
The digital eye strain symptoms, the AAO also said, are associated with how we use our laptops and other gadgets, not the blue light that comes out of them.
In addition, according to the College of Optometrists in the United Kingdom, the best scientific evidence presently available does not back "the use of blue-blocking spectacle lenses in general population" to enhance one's visual performance, ease eye fatigue symptoms or visual discomfort, or enhance their quality of sleep, or "conserve macula health."
Some Eye Professionals Believe Otherwise
In contrast to what the AAO says, some experts believe the blue light glasses have benefits. Decatur, GA-based Eyeworks senior optician Greg Rogers said he had seen the benefits of blue light glasses among the customers of the shop.
Their staff is asking their clients about the amount of time they spend in front of a screen every day. If it is six hours or longer, he said, "some sort of blue light reduction technique is recommended," be it a pair of glasses or a special type of screen for a computer monitor.
Representing the optical industry, the Vision Council says, it is not promoting any individual brand or product, and it is encouraging everyone to conduct their own research to an eye professional and determine which one solution can best address their eye problem due to pandemic screen time.
Don't Blame the Blue Light
We were already receiving an abundance of blue light even before we started to live a digital life. Most of the light comes from the sun.
However, devices such as televisions, smartphones, laptops, and tablets that now populate the modern life release the brighter, more bluish light.
And according to Vision Direct, due to the pandemic, we are staring at gadgets even more. This organization examined around 2,000 adults in the United States and 2,000 more adults from the UK.
In this study, published in the 2020 round, the said adults averaged four hours and 54 minutes on a laptop prior to the lockdown and "five hours and 10 minutes after."
Furthermore, they were found to have spent four hours and 33 minutes on their smartphone prior to the lockdown and five hours and two minutes after. Screen time increased too, for television watching and gaming.
Emory University professor and optometrist Susan Primo, OD said, she agrees that the study so far presents digital overuse and not blue light is causing the problems. However, some patients wearing blue light glasses have reported less eyestrain.
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