What is Blue Light and How Does It Affect Us?

If you have done any research on sleep, you probably have heard the tip to turn off electronic devices about an hour before bed or the benefits of anti blue light glasses. Sometimes we listen, sometimes we prefer to binge Netflix until the late hours of the night.

The reason we are told is not because the latest episode of Working Moms has us laughing till 3 in the morning. It actually has to do with blue light. All of us may struggle to put down our devices every now and again, but blue light can be beneficial at times and at other times it can actually be harmful to our eyes and sleep patterns.

What is blue light?

Back before the light bulb our society operated on the sun’s time. Our internal clock knew when the sun would rise, so would we. When it would set, it was time for bed. Then over time we started to fight with our internal clocks. So much so that we now have problems even falling asleep! How did we get here?

While we know there are plenty of factors that go into poor sleep like stress and poor diet, blue light is one of the main contributors. You may be even thinking you are treating your poor sleep with a movie before bed, but it can actually be harming your ability to fall asleep.

Each visible color has different levels of energy. This is why as a sun sets you see colors emerging in the sky. Red light has little energy but long wavelengths, whereas blue light has high energy but shorter wavelengths.

Then there is sunlight, this contains all of the colors in the sky and the largest source of blue light. It is part of the reason you may struggle to fall asleep during the day! However, today, sunlight is not the only place we get blue light.

Today you can also get blue light from LED lights, compact fluorescent light bulbs, fluorescent lights, and all sorts of electronics with a screen. Everything from your Apple watch to your giant TV screen, emit blue light.

How Does Blue Light Affect Us?

Blue light is not necessarily bad. It is not like UV rays that have been known to cause cancer. In fact, in small doses blue light can be good. It can help make you more alert throughout the day and especially when you need it! This is often why if you wake up in the middle of the night and turn on your phone, it wakes you up rather than puts you to sleep.

The issue is that today we are being exposed to more blue light than normal. Now with a phone always in hand and more and more people taking their work online, it is nearly impossible to get away from blue light.

This overdose of blue light is beginning to show some harmful effects like affecting sleep patterns and causing eye strain. These problems may seem manageable at first and a necessary sacrifice for hard work, but they can easily snowball into much bigger problems that can affect other areas of your life.

Blue Light & Technology

Since one of our main sources of blue light comes from technology and everyday more technology is entering our lives, we are finding eye strain becoming an increasing problem.

This can be even more common in workers who spend most of their day in front of a computer. Even more so if you work in a field that requires a lot of detail oriented tasks like accounting or editing. Oftentimes looking at the tiny numbers or words on your screen overtime can put strain on the eyes.

So while we know depending on your field it may be more common for some than others, it can certainly happen to everyone today. Some common symptoms of eye strain include:

Eyes that feel dry, sore, or itchy
Headaches or migraines
Blurry vision
Light Sensitivity
Insomnia

If you find you are experiencing these symptoms, eye strain from blue light can likely be the cause. A good way to test is record when you are experiencing these symptoms. Are they more frequent during the week when you are working and on your computer a lot?

Treating Strained Eyes

If you have strained eyes, you are likely frustrated and relief is hard to come by. The most obvious option is to limit the amount of time you spend staring at screens. However, if you have a busy job, limiting the amount of time you spend on the phone or computer can actually harm your career!

You can take breaks, but for many of us this is easier said than done.

Another option is to adjust the brightness on your computer so it is at a lower setting. This will decrease the intensity of the blue light. In addition to decreasing the light, make sure you sit a good distance back from your computer. Sitting too close will increase strain and make the light more intense.

Many people find relief from the blue light strain by by wearing anti blue light glasses. These work just like regular glasses but help provide relief while you work with screens.

If you do not need prescription glasses these are perfect because they do not affect your vision, just filter out the blue light so your eyes can relax as you work for a longer period of time.

Today, so much of our lives revolve around screens. Whether you work online, facetime with family members, or binging your favorite show, screens are part of our everyday lives. So if they are negatively affecting your health, that is an issue that should be dealt with immediately. You can take breaks, lower your brightness, or even wear blue light glasses to help ease the strain.

This post was sponsored by Overnight Glasses - but note that JUGS only accepts sponsorships from mission-aligned brands that meet our core values of compassion + fulfillment.