Is blue light damaging your eyes?

We are all working from home a lot more, our kids are schooling online - and our use of electronic devices has increased dramatically. Can this damage our eyes?

There are lots of claims about what blue light can do to our health, and much of it is debated. However, what we do know with more certainty is that blue light is very disruptive for our sleep and circadian cycle, and animal studies suggest blue light may be damaging to eye tissues, including retinal cells and inducing farsightedness by inhibiting growth (more studies needed to confirm this in humans).¹²

Blue light is not all bad. It is part of daylight and is important for making us alert during the day. by suppressing melatonin secretion.³ So during the day, we don’t want to be blocking out blue light. What we want to do is to avoid blue light at night - which can throw off our sleep cycle and circadian rhythm, making it harder to fall asleep and to get QUALITY sleep. Blue light can impair our deep sleep. It is only during deep sleep that our tissues repair, our brains detox via the lymphatic system, and we secret important hormones like testosterone and growth hormone. 

As for damage to the eyes, blue light can cause issues such as dry eye.⁴ There is also evidence that blue light can damage photoreceptor cells in mammals.⁵ Additionally, there are some studies claiming that blue light is directly related to and can accelerate macular and retinal degeneration in humans, although the strength of these claims is debated among scholars.⁶ At the very least, blue light can cause irritation and strain to your eyes through prolonged usage.

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So what can you do about it?

You’ve probably heard a lot about blue light-blocking glasses in the media and from health experts promoting them for your protection. There is some evidence that they work for both eye health and sleep cycle. Small studies have shown that wearing blue light-blocking glasses can help reduce symptoms associated with prolonged exposure to blue light from screens, including headaches, blurred vision, dry eyes, and eye strain, fatigue, pain, itchiness, and irritation (although there are also studies showing they have no effect - so we need more studies in order to draw conclusions) - let your symptoms be the guide until we know more.⁷⁸ 

Stronger evidence supports the use of blue light blockers at night to aid sleep and protect our circadian rhythm, which in turn can impact our hormonal and overall health. Decreasing blue light exposure in the evening has been shown to increase melatonin production and decrease the amount of time it takes to fall asleep.⁹ 

Limiting exposure to blue light can be achieved by staying off devices (I know, I know it’s hard to do) or wearing glasses that block blue light wavelengths for several hours before bed. One study showed that for people who experience delays in falling asleep, which can be caused by blue-light exposure, wearing blue light-blocking glasses in the evening advanced their melatonin production and the onset of their sleep cycle by over 1.25 hours.¹⁰ Another study showed that people with insomnia who wore blue-light blocking glasses for 90 minutes when combined with CBT-i before they went to sleep experienced a significant reduction in sleep latency and stayed asleep for a significantly longer time than those in a control group.¹¹

If you are experiencing any of the symptoms mentioned above and look at screens frequently, blue light-blocking glasses may be worth a try. There are several different types of glasses, so you may be asking, “What type of blue light blockers should I wear and when?” Keep reading to learn how to pick quality blue light blockers for maximum benefits. There is also a quick test that you can do to see how effective your blue blockers are!