Why do you need a pair of blue light blocking glasses?

Are you up late watching television, scrolling through your phone while watching television, or doing computer work late into the evening prior to bed? Most of us are guilty of at least one of these. There isn’t enough time in the day, right? How’s your sleep? The majority of us aren’t getting the recommended amount of sleep each night, but that’s not news to anyone.

Did you know that a big factor affecting sleep is artificial or blue light coming from tablets, smart phones, computers, televisions, etc. that most of us are using at night after the sun goes down? What I bet you also didn’t know is that blue light could be harming your health. A lack of sleep and poor quality sleep can contribute to numerous health issues and may not be allowing your body ample time to rest and heal.

Excessive blue light at night has been shown to potentially alter your deep sleep and quality of sleep, even if you are getting 7-8 hours. It has been shown to possibly increase your appetite (which can lead to weight gain and increased fat storage), decrease your mental sharpness, increase daily tiredness, contribute to depression, and raise your blood pressure. Wow, can you believe blue light exposure at night could be contributing to all of this?

Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland that controls when your body is asleep and when it is awake. Melatonin naturally rises at night after the sun goes down and then it decreases in the early morning. Blue light exposure at night suppresses the release of melatonin. The blue light at night tells your brain to stay awake! Be alert. It’s not time for bed. So, when you attempt to sleep after exposing yourself to the blue lights, your sleep won’t be as deep and you may have a lot of trouble even falling asleep. Your brain is somewhat tricked into thinking it is daytime with the artificial lights. Blue light exposure is also compounded by not getting enough exposure to natural light during the day since many of us work indoors.

Teenagers and kids are affected significantly more than adults. So, there may be another reason your teenager is groggy in the morning and can’t get out of bed. They didn’t get enough sleep and their circadian rhythm has been interfered with by staying up late watching tv, using the computer or scrolling through their phone.

The best solution is to limit all exposure to light and devices at night. Okay, but we live in the real world. Many of us only have time to check emails, browse Amazon, look at Facebook, etc. after the kids go to bed or after we get home late from work.  I’m catching up on my favorite shows at night too. Most of us cannot commit to shutting off everything electronic after dark. Also, your child or teen may have homework after a practice or game, so they have to be up late finishing it.

So, I recently learned of a new tool to assist in getting a better night sleep. I’m wearing blue light blocking glasses. The ones is the main picture are Swannies from Swanwick sleep. They are here on Amazon. I purchased them while they were on sale. They also have a pair for kids.

While Swanwick is the more fashionable brand from what I’ve seen,  I also have a pair of these pictured above. If you really only plan to wear these at home, try the cheaper ones. It isn’t a big investment.  Here’s the other pair that I have now.  Consumer Reports tested this brand (yes, the cheaper one) and determined they eliminate almost all blue light.

My Swanwick glasses mysteriously disappeared.  I swear they are in my house somewhere. I wonder if I’ll find them one day at the bottom of a toy bucket. So, I ordered a cheaper, replacement pair. I believe these work very well too, if not better. They wrap around your face more, so more blue light can’t get in through the sides.

You may feel silly wearing these (my husband has made fun of me a few times), but seriously, it has been shown that just putting these on every night can greatly improve your overall sleep and health. How easy is it to just wear these at night and get benefits from it?

 

To summarize:

1. Order and wear blue light blocking glasses when the sun goes down. This applies for adults and teenagers.
2. Wear the glasses about 2-3 hours before bed or once the sun goes down every day until you get in the bed and take them off in complete darkness. If you wear them all night, then take them off with bright lights on, you may lose most of the benefits of them.
3. Limit your usage and your kids usage of tv, computer use, Ipad and other electronics 2 hours before bed. Kids and teens are even more sensitive than adults.
4. Use your settings on your iPhone or iPad to allow blue light filtering:
   • Go to Settings
   • Go to Display & Brightness
   • Turn on the Night Shift; it filters out blue light that disturbs your sleeping pattern
5. Install an app on your phone and computer that blocks a lot of the blue light. Flux is a computer program, and there are several apps you can review to purchase.
6. Expose yourself to lots of natural light during the day; blue light is great during the day coming from natural light. Our bodies need it.
7. Keep your bedroom completely dark. Plug in your phones in another room.

Overall studies of those using these orange or amber tinted glasses at night have been very positive in limiting the effects of blue light after dark. So far I can report feeling more tired at night, meaning more melatonin is being released and allowing my body to be more ready to sleep. I was already having trouble sleeping through the night with pain related issues. I can report that these are working toward my goal of better, deeper sleep all just from wearing glasses. How easy is that? I highly recommend giving one of these brands a go. What do you have to lose? Deeper , better sleep awaits you! This will make your body healthier overall as well!