More and more of us are now becoming more aware of how blue light can affect our bodies, yet with increased device usage, we’re exposed to more of it than ever before. To enjoy the maximum well-being, we need to start to find ways to reduce the amount of blue light we allow ourselves to be exposed to.
Why is this the case you may ask? Read on and learn more.
How Does Blue Light Affect Your Body?
Understanding how light interacts with our eyes is the key to knowing why blue light is so bad for our well-being. Light is made up of different colored waves, which all have their different energies. Red light is at the beginning of the visible light spectrum.
This has low energy waves and is easier on the eyes, particularly during the night. Blue light, however, has the highest energy waves and this makes it more difficult for the eyes to process effectively.
While high energy light waves are vital for our daily lives, it can prove to be harmful if we are exposed to them at the wrong times. High energy light is received from the sun to regulate sleep patterns effectively. In the day, the light enters our eyes to release enzymes, bring our levels of melatonin down and help us to wake up.
Melatonin regulates our sleep cycles via circadian rhythms. However, this cycle is all too easy to disrupt. Excessive exposure to blue light can disrupt your circadian rhythm cycle severely. This is because it reduces the melatonin levels released by your body. If your body doesn’t have enough melatonin at bedtime, you can’t sleep properly and become exhausted.
Blue light is emitted by screens from laptops, smartphones and tablets and eventually this can cause eye strain, near-sightedness and dry, itching eyes. If you think that is bad, blue light also affects the cellular anchors and the retina and can cause Advanced Macular Degeneration at a younger age.
Some experts have even linked obesity to melatonin disruption as well as the development of some forms of cancer. So by finding ways to avoid excessive blue light exposure is therefore essential.
How Can the Blue Light Exposure Problem Be Resolved?
Some manufacturers of devices are now recognizing the harm that blue light can cause us and are starting to develop new technological solutions to resolve the problem.
Blue-filter covers are available for purchase for VR goggles, mobile phones and laptops and some devices have now integrated “evening modes” into their design which filters out the blue light when you use your device in the evening hours to limit your exposure.
Of course, the obvious solution to the blue light exposure problem is simply to avoid using any device during the evening or night. Smartphones and tablets should be kept out of the bedroom, and for several hours before bed, we should steer clear of any device usage. Unfortunately, this isn’t always practical or even desirable. So, how can we avoid the issue?
The answer could be to invest in a pair of blue-light protective glasses. These are designed with an HEV (high energy visible light) filter built in. These allow you to use your devices whenever you like without any worries about exposure to blue light impacting on your sleep patterns.
Blue light blocker glasses look the same as a standard pair of glasses, but they have special filters that prevent high energy visible light from reaching the back of the eye. They can either be purchased as a standalone pair of glasses or as a special pair of night-time glasses which can be worn over a regular pair of spectacles.
If you put these on around an hour before you go to bed, they will block all the blue light emitted from your devices and LED lights helping you to get better sleep every night.