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You’ve probably heard about the dangers of blue light from digital displays.
Apparently, it’s damaging our eyes and disrupting our sleep cycles.
Here’s the good news—blue light is not that big of a deal.
Justin Duino / How-To Geek
Allow me to explain.
The claims about blue light are everywhere.
If you’ve purchased glasses in recent years, you’ve probably even been pitched blue-blocking lenses.
Gritsalak Karalak/Shutterstock.com
A lot of these claims sound perfectly reasonable, which has led many people to believe them.
The truth is not that simple, though.
What Is Blue Light?
Blue light is as literal as it sounds—it’s light with a blue hue.
Colors of light have different wavelengths, and blue light is a short wavelength.
The shorter the wavelength, the higher the energy.
One unique thing about blue light is it can’t be effectively filtered by human eyes.
That’s where the concerns come from.
What Do Blue Light Glasses Do?
Blue light-blocking products—especially glasses—have become very common in recent years.
Let’s talk about what these actually do.
Related:Do Blue Light Glasses Work?
Everything it’s crucial that you Know
Blue Light Glasses are incredibly simple.
Wearing blue light glasses has a similar effect asNight ShiftorNight Lightmodes on phones and computers.
You see the world with a more yellow/orange tint.
The question is, does this actually have any benefit?
But blocking blue light is mostly a solution hunting for a problem.
Let’s talk about the difference between comfort and real physiological effects.
There’s no question that bright, blue light from a display can feel very harsh on your eyes.
That blast of blue light was jarring, but did it do any physiological harm?
Quite a few studies have been done on blue light’s effect on eyes.
This is technically true, but you might be surprised by the details.
A2019 studyfound that looking at screens does indeed slow the secretion of melatonin.
However, participants' melatonin levels returned to normal levels just 15 minutes after they stopped looking at screens.
They didn’t even need fancy glasses.
Like many things, the concerns about blue light are mostly overblown.
In general, you just need to put down your phone and let your body do its thing.
Related:Is It Bad to Sleep Next to Your Phone?
