Posted by: Eye Centers of Florida in Eye Health
Blue Light Lenses: Don’t Let Screen Time Ruin Your Eyes
Overexposure to blue light can have many adverse effects on your eye health. It can cause Digital Eye Strain, a condition marked by symptoms like headaches, and the inability to focus. It can cause dry eye. It can also cause long-term damage to the retina that may lead to vision-threatening conditions like age-related macular degeneration (AMD). As we spend more and more time in front of screens, we’re more at risk for dangerous levels of exposure to blue light.
Fortunately, there’s a simple solution: you can get blue light lenses in any of Eye Centers of Florida’s optical shops! By blocking harmful blue light, this advanced lens technology can make a huge difference for your long-term eye health and comfortable vision, even when you find yourself unable to avoid looking at screens for work or school.
The Many Benefits of Blue Light Lenses
Blue light lenses are an add-on to standard glasses lenses and are able to be put in a wide variety of frames to make nearly any eyeglasses — prescription or non-prescription — equipped to protect your eyes. Here are a few of the benefits of having your lenses upgraded with blue light filtering technology.
Getting Blue Light Lenses Is Easy
We’ve already mentioned how with just a simple enhancement, we can turn any pair of glasses into blue light glasses. We can also help make blue light even more affordable, both through our many special offers and deals and by working with your insurance provider. Many vision plans provide an allowance, discount, or other incentives to add this great feature to your eyewear purchase.
Protect Your Eyes from Phones, Tablets, Computers, and TVs
Nearly every device these days has an LED-backlit screen, which is a major source of harsh blue light. Some devices and apps have a feature to lower the amount of blue light they produce — often called “night mode” or something similar — but this won’t completely eliminate blue light.
Blue light lenses filter out this specific and dangerous range of light, between 400-500 nm, effectively stopping the most damaging light from reaching your eyes!
That said, some issues from looking at screens simply comes from looking at them for too long. We follow the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s (AAO) recommendation to use the “20/20/20 rule” when using screens: every 20 minutes, turn away from the screen to look at something 20 feet from you, for 20 seconds or more.
Stop Sleep Problems Caused by Blue Light
Blue light has been well-documented to cause sleep problems. Most light sources put a damper on the body’s production of melatonin, a hormone that helps create healthy sleep cycles. However, in Harvard studies, blue light suppressed melatonin for twice as long as other light!
Blue light lenses can soften harsh light and protect your eyes throughout the day but using them closer to bedtime helps your ability to go to sleep (and stay asleep). If you could put on glasses that helped you get healthier, more restful sleep, why wouldn’t you?
Protect Yourself from Other Sources of Blue Light
Screens aren’t the only source of blue light. Many fluorescent lights and LEDs, which are becoming more common in buildings and on cars, produce more blue light than conventional bulbs. The sun, too, is a potent source of blue light. While blue light lenses don’t replace the need for dependable sunglasses, they can help block blue light from all kinds of sources you may not consider during your day-to-day.
Depending on the lens design, blue light glasses can potentially block glare from various lights at night, making night driving and night vision easier. You should discuss with our opticians whether you’d like night driving protection, and we’ll make sure you get what you need.
Blue Light Lenses Done Right the First Time
Not all blue light treatments are created equal, and one of the many benefits of eyewear shopping at ECOF is that our optical shops are reputable, professional, and conveniently located. You can have your lenses upgraded in the optical shops of any of our 11 convenient locations across Southwest Florida.
We can expertly fit your eyeglasses to your face for maximum comfort, and we offer a huge selection of fashionable name brands and styles of frames for you to set your blue light lenses into — perks you won’t find at most other optical boutiques, let alone online retailers.
To learn more about our blue light lenses, or the special offers we’re running right now, call Eye Centers of Florida at
(239) 320-7342 today!
