Blue-light glasses — do they actually help your eyes?
Blue-light glasses save your eyes from screens — or so the ads say. But do they actually reduce eye strain or protect your vision?
- Claim
- BLUE LIGHT GLASSES HELP?
- Catch
- NOT PROVEN
- Verdict
- BLINK MORE
A Cochrane review pooled trials of blue-light filtering lenses versus regular lenses in adults looking at screens.
Eye doctors say screen strain comes from staring too long and blinking less — not from blue light. Blue-light glasses don't prevent strain or retinal damage.
The American Academy of Ophthalmology does not recommend blue-light glasses for computer use. Taking breaks and blinking more helps more.
The catch: those trials were small and short-term, mostly in adults, and they measured strain, not disease. Screen light isn't shown to harm eyes, and glasses aren't proven to help.
SOURCES
- Downie LE et al. Blue-light filtering spectacle lenses for visual performance, macular health and the sleep-wake cycle in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2022.
- American Academy of Ophthalmology. Digital eye strain and blue light. aao.org/eye-health.
For information only, not medical advice. Talk to an eye doctor if eye strain persists.
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