Blue Light Glasses: Do They Work? (What Scientists Say)

Are they worth it? A Short Summary

It depends. Scientific evidence on blue light glasses to date is conflicting, with some studies stating that blue light glasses have a positive effect on sleep, while others claim it is not significant enough.

Yet, blue light wavelengths do have an impact on us, such as boosting attention, increasing reaction time and impacting our hormonal balance (Wong and Bahmani, 2022). How we react to blue light is what matters, as we can take frequent breaks from viewing the screen, actively close our eyes to limit dry, irritated eyes, avoid looking at the screen before going to bed, or wear blue light glasses, and even apply blue light screen filters to devices.

Since scientific research is currently disagreeing on blue light glasses effectiveness, we believe the most sensible approach is to try it out for yourself and see whether it makes a difference in your digital screen life. Blue light glasses are not harmful, so it is safe to try.

If you are looking to purchase blue light glasses or screens, there are numerous great options available. We personally like Barner Brand or Ocushield. It is essential to know how much blue light is generally blocked by these filters, as a stronger filter will block a higher percentage, thereby providing more protection. In our opinion, purchasing blue light glasses makes the most sense when you spend a lot of time using digital screens. Thus, blue light filters that filter around 50% to 80% of blue light seem to be effective for us.

Introduction

After working for hours in front of a computer screen or looking at your phone every break, you might be worried about the effects of screens on your eyes and health. By reading this article, you likely have heard of 'blue light' and are seeking to determine if blue light glasses are genuinely worth the hype and can protect your eyes, or if they are just a gimmick.

In this article, we will examine the scientific evidence on the effectiveness of blue light glasses, explore the potential underlying issues of eye strain associated with screen use, and investigate alternative solutions.

Blue light: What exactly is it?

Blue light is a wavelength spectrum ranging from 400 to 500 nanometers and is typically generated by LED screens or lights. As blue light has become increasingly common in our modern world, we are constantly exposed to it, both day and night. Excessive exposure may have potential adverse effects on our sleep patterns, well-being, or eye health (Wong and Bahmani, 2022).

As seen on the above figure, the blue light spectrum is compared to a standard white-light LED, a tricolour fluorescent lamp, and an incandescent source (Tosini et al. 2016). It shows that not all wavelengths of light have the same effect on the eye and body. In this case, blue light has an impact on us, such as boosting attention, increasing reaction time and impacting our hormonal balance. It can act as an activating factor, potentially disrupting sleep, especially at night when you look at a screen.

Out of personal experience, whenever I wake up early in the morning for work and I feel tired, I realised that when I grab my phone and watch a video or interact with my phone for 5 minutes, I start to feel awake, which is also backed by research, such as from Wahl et al., 2019, which states that our inner clock, also known as circadian rhythm is heavily impacted by our excessive use of blue light. Circadian rhythm is essential for our life, and if not preserved, could cause serious diseases (Wahl et al., 2019). Sounds scary!

How do your eyes react to blue light?

There are multiple ways our eyes react to blue light, ranging from dry eyes to feeling more awake, as well as experiencing discomfort. Let us look at the negative impacts first.

The adverse effect of excessive blue lights: Why do your eyes hurt when looking at a digital screen?

Before looking into the negative aspects of blue lights, it is essential to say that exposure to blue light wavelengths in moderation (whatever this exactly means) has no acute impact on our eyes, yet overexposure or excessive use of digital screens might have a negative effect on our eyes and health (Lee et al., 2016).

Research has shown that blue lights can cause inflammation of the eye surface and damage to the eye cells (Marek et al., 2019; Lee et al., 2016). Additionally, researchers suggest that blue light wavelengths may exacerbate dry eye disease symptoms (Marek et al., 2019) and can significantly impact our sleep and hormonal balance (Wong and Bahmani, 2022).

Our eyes also react differently to blue light, as we blink in a different frequency than normal (Lin et al., 2017), our eyes also move much less (as we stare at the screen), and we may experience discomfort in our eyes, with our tear glands producing less moisture (Cheng et al., 2014).

Up to 70% of people who use digital screens daily have experienced digital eye strain (also known as Computer Vision Syndrome, or CVS), which can include blurred vision, headaches, or eyestrain (Hwang et al., 2021).

Up until now, much of the scientific research on the impact of blue light has primarily focused on the retina, as shown in the above image (Wistow, 1995). Research on the anterior or ocular surface has been limited so far (Wong and Bahmani, 2022). However, some researchers (Tosini et al., 2016) suggest that blue light affects vital aspects of our health, including metabolism and mental health, which can lead to unwanted health consequences.

Positive aspects of blue light

Yet, not everything is bad. Positive aspect of blue lights is that they make us more alert, can increase our cognitive performance, and reduce our reaction time (Silvani, Werder, and Perret, 2022).

Also, researchers suggest that the impact of blue lights is negligible, and what matters more is how our eyes blink and move, which (according to them) puts a greater strain on our well-being (Lee et al., 2016). They argue that eye strain might not be caused by the blue lights themselves, but rather by how we naturally react to this light. For example, when we stare into a computer screen, we tend to focus on the same spot, concentrating on what is written on the screen, and rarely move our eyes or blink.

Blue Light needs more research

As you might have realised so far, scientific research to date has been conflicting and does not yet agree on the effects of blue light. There is currently no high-quality, long-term study that demonstrates the impact of excessive blue light use on our eyes and overall health. Research does agree that blue light has an impact on our physical and mental health (whether the impact is big or small), but many advocate for more research, as they argue the long-term effects are unknown (Cougnard-Gregoire et al., 2023; Chakravarthy et al., 2024).

But we do not have time to wait, right? So what can we do? Let us see if blue light glasses are truly useful first.

Are blue light glasses effective?

The effectiveness of blue light glasses is a topic of considerable debate. Still, to provide a balanced view, we compiled all the different research together, including studies that found it to be effective, those that found it to be ineffective, and those that indicated further research is needed. Let us start.

Viewpoint 1: "Blue light glasses are effective"

Multiple researchers claim that there is tangible evidence that blue light glasses are effective in helping people with sleep disorders, changing shift work, or even jet lag (Hester et al., 2021). This is because looking at the screen at night through blue light glasses does not make you more awake. Thus, wearing blue light glasses at night can help reduce the effect of blue light on melatonin levels (van der Lely, 2015).

Furthermore, research shows that blue light glasses help reduce eye fatigue (Ide et al., 2015), comfort participants with dry eye problems (Cheng et al., 2014), and even improve reading speed (Redondo et al., 2020). Even, a study found out that these glasses protected the participants retina (Narimatsu et al., 2015).

Viewpoint 2: "Blue light glasses are not effective"

Many scientists argue that blue light filters have no significant effect on the eyes of healthy participants and do not lead to any significant improvement in the comfort of reading text on a digital screen (Rosenfield et al., 2020; Lian et al., 2022).

Others argue that blue light filters do not significantly improve sleep quality or time (Bigalke et al., 2021), or make much of a difference for eye strain or sleep compared to regular glasses (Singh et al., 2023).

There is even a famous case of the UK's General Optical Council successfully fining Boots for overselling the effectiveness of their blue light glasses, as the council states that there is low to very low evidence to support claims of helping eye fatigue, sleep quality, and performance. The council further highlights that anybody selling blue light glasses needs to make their customers aware that "there is no strong evidence that blue-blocking spectacle lenses will improve visual performance, alleviate symptoms of eye strain or improve sleep quality" (AOP News article).

Viewpoint 3: "We need more research on blue light glasses!"

Again, despite proving that blue light glasses can be a safe and practical help for people with sleeping problems, the same scientists highlight the importance of more participants and research (Esaki et al., 2016), while others argue that there is a lack of consistent evidence that blue light glasses truly work (Vagge et al., 2021; Munsamy et al., 2022).

Simply put, we are in dire need of multiple high-quality, long-term studies to confidently determine whether blue light glasses truly help or not.

So what? What should we do?

As you might have realised, scientists do not yet agree on how harmful it is to look at a blue screen all day and whether blue light glasses truly work.

Based on our personal experience, we also believe that every human is unique, and for some, blue light glasses may be effective (as they are for us), while for others, they may not be, which is perfectly fine. We believe that only by trying them can you truly know whether they are effective for you.

What matters is knowing that using blue light glasses does not damage our eyes, and so trying them out to see if they help in your case definitely can not hurt.

If you want to try blue light glasses, consider supporting your local vendors, as there are many great brand options available for blue light glasses and screens. We personally like Barner Brand or Ocushield. It is essential to know how much blue light is generally blocked by these filters, as a stronger filter will block a higher percentage, thereby providing more protection. In our opinion, purchasing blue light glasses makes the most sense when you spend a significant amount of time using digital screens (at least 8 hours a day). Thus, blue light filters that filter around 50% to 80% of blue light would be effective in our opinion, but again, it might differ in your case.

What are other options to blue light glasses?

There are many other options to blue light glasses, which you might find more effective. We have made a small list, which hopefully helps:

• Use a Pomodoro timer to set an alarm every 25 minutes, and then look at something far away from you for at least 25 seconds. This will help your eyes relax.
• Moisturise your eyes: Actively blink more, use eye drops or have a humidifier. Anything that helps your eyes stay lubricated.
• Use an Antireflective/antiglare for your computer screen to reduce screen glare
• Make sure your screen is always at least arm's length away from your eyes, and place the monitor just a bit below eye level to reduce your eye surface exposure
• Make sure your room is always well-lit, so that the source of the light comes not only from your screen, but also from your surroundings. Once your room is dark, you also stop looking at the screen.
• There are many built-in apps to help eliminate blue light, such as the "Dark Mode" and "Night Shift" modes in Apple products.
• Have you ever tested your eyesight? You may experience headaches from reading on screens, as your eyes may require slight adjustments. It might be worth testing your eyesight to be on the safe side.

References

Do you want to read more in depth what the science says? Have a read at the following referenced articles for further information:

• Bigalke, J.A., Greenlund, I.M., Nicevski, J.R. and Carter, J.R., 2021. Effect of evening blue light blocking glasses on subjective and objective sleep in healthy adults: A randomised control trial. Sleep Health, 7(4), pp.485-490.
• Chakravarthy, H., Georgyev, V., Wagen, C., Hosseini, A. and Matsubara, J., 2024. Blue light-induced phototoxicity in retinal cells: implications in age-related macular degeneration. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 16, p.1509434.
• Cheng, H.M., Chen, S.T., Hsiang-Jui, L. and Cheng, C.Y., 2014. Does blue light filter improve computer vision syndrome in patients with dry eye. Life Science Journal, 11(6), pp.612-615.
• Cheng, H.M., Chen, S.T., Hsiang-Jui, L. and Cheng, C.Y., 2014. Does blue light filter improve computer vision syndrome in patients with dry eye. Life Science Journal, 11(6), pp.612-615.
• Cougnard-Gregoire, A., Merle, B.M., Aslam, T., Seddon, J.M., Aknin, I., Klaver, C.C., Garhöfer, G., Layana, A.G., Minnella, A.M., Silva, R. and Delcourt, C., 2023. Blue light exposure: ocular hazards and prevention—a narrative review. Ophthalmology and therapy, 12(2), pp.755-788.
• Esaki, Y., Kitajima, T., Ito, Y., Koike, S., Nakao, Y., Tsuchiya, A., Hirose, M. and Iwata, N., 2016. Wearing blue light-blocking glasses in the evening advances circadian rhythms in patients with delayed sleep phase disorder: An open-label trial. Chronobiology international, 33(8), pp.1037-1044.
• Hester, L., Dang, D., Barker, C.J., Heath, M., Mesiya, S., Tienabeso, T. and Watson, K., 2021. Evening wear of blue-blocking glasses for sleep and mood disorders: a systematic review. Chronobiology International, 38(10), pp.1375-1383.
• Hwang Y, Shin D, Eun J, Suh B, Lee J (2021-03-29). "Design Guidelines of a Computer-Based Intervention for Computer Vision Syndrome: Focus Group Study and Real-World Deployment". Journal of Medical Internet Research. 23 (3) e22099. doi:10.2196/22099. PMC 8088848. PMID 33779568.
• Ide, T., Toda, I., Miki, E. and Tsubota, K., 2015. Effect of blue light–reducing eye glasses on critical flicker frequency. Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology, 4(2), pp.80-85.
• Lee, H.S., Cui, L., Li, Y., Choi, J.S., Choi, J.H., Li, Z., Kim, G.E., Choi, W. and Yoon, K.C., 2016. Influence of light emitting diode-derived blue light overexposure on mouse ocular surface. PLoS One, 11(8), p.e0161041.
• Lian, Y., Lu, W., Huang, H., Wu, G., Xu, A. and Jin, W., 2022. The long-term effect of blue-light blocking spectacle lenses on adults’ contrast perception. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 16, p.898489.
• Lin, J.B., Gerratt, B.W., Bassi, C.J. and Apte, R.S., 2017. Short-wavelength light-blocking eyeglasses attenuate symptoms of eye fatigue. Investigative ophthalmology & visual science, 58(1), pp.442-447.
• Marek, V., Reboussin, E., Dégardin-Chicaud, J., Charbonnier, A., Domínguez-López, A., Villette, T., Denoyer, A., Baudouin, C., Réaux-Le Goazigo, A. and Mélik Parsadaniantz, S., 2019. Implication of melanopsin and trigeminal neural pathways in blue light photosensitivity in vivo. Frontiers in neuroscience, 13, p.431393.
• Munsamy, A.J., Moodley, M., Khan, Z., Govender, K., Nkwanyana, M., Cele, S. and Radebe, M., 2022. Evidence on the effects of digital blue light on the eye: A scoping review. African Vision and Eye Health, 81(1), p.685.
• Narimatsu, T., Negishi, K., Miyake, S., Hirasawa, M., Osada, H., Kurihara, T., Tsubota, K. and Ozawa, Y., 2015. Blue light-induced inflammatory marker expression in the retinal pigment epithelium-choroid of mice and the protective effect of a yellow intraocular lens material in vivo. Experimental eye research, 132, pp.48-51.
• Niwano, Y., Iwasawa, A., Tsubota, K., Ayaki, M. and Negishi, K., 2019. Protective effects of blue light-blocking shades on phototoxicity in human ocular surface cells. BMJ open ophthalmology, 4(1).
• Redondo, B., Vera, J., Ortega‐Sánchez, A., Molina, R. and Jiménez, R., 2020. Effects of a blue‐blocking screen filter on accommodative accuracy and visual discomfort. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 40(6), pp.790-800.
• Rosenfield, M., Li, R.T. and Kirsch, N.T., 2020. A double-blind test of blue-blocking filters on symptoms of digital eye strain. Work, 65(2), pp.343-348.
• Silvani, M.I., Werder, R. and Perret, C., 2022. The influence of blue light on sleep, performance and wellbeing in young adults: A systematic review. Frontiers in physiology, 13, p.943108.
• Singh, S., Keller, P.R., Busija, L., McMillan, P., Makrai, E., Lawrenson, J.G., Hull, C.C. and Downie, L.E., 2023. Blue‐light filtering spectacle lenses for visual performance, sleep, and macular health in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (8).
• Tosini, G., Ferguson, I. and Tsubota, K., 2016. Effects of Blue Light on the Circadian System and Eye Physiology. Molecular vision, 22, pp.61-72.
• Vagge, A., Ferro Desideri, L., Del Noce, C., Di Mola, I., Sindaco, D. and Traverso, C.E., 2021, October. Blue light filtering ophthalmic lenses: a systematic review. In Seminars in Ophthalmology (Vol. 36, No. 7, pp. 541-548). Taylor & Francis.
• van der Lely S., Frey S., Garbazza C., Wirz‐Justice A., Jenni O. G., Steiner R., Wolf S., Cajochen C., Bromundt V., Schmidt C., J. Adolesc. Health 2015, 56(1), 113.
• Wahl S, Engelhardt M, Schaupp P, Lappe C, Ivanov IV (December 2019). "The inner clock-Blue light sets the human rhythm". Journal of Biophotonics. 12 (12) e201900102. doi:10.1002/jbio.201900102. PMC 7065627. PMID 31433569.
• Wistow, G., 1995. Molecular biology and evolution of crystallins: gene recruitment and multifunctional proteins in the eye lens. (No Title).
• Wong, N.A. and Bahmani, H., 2022. A review of the current state of research on artificial blue light safety as it applies to digital devices. Heliyon, 8(8).