As society’s use of electronic devices increases, there’s growing concern about excessive exposure to blue light from digital screens. And because this technology is still relatively new to the world, more research is needed to better understand its effects on our eyes.
If you’re among the majority of Americans who spend a lot of time each day looking at digital screens, you’re probably wondering if you need to worry about blue light. Let’s take a closer look at this topic together.
What Is Blue Light?
Our visible light spectrum is made up of seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. So what makes blue light different from the others? It has the shortest wavelengths and the highest energy levels.
The main source of blue light is the sun. However, blue light also comes from digital screens and indoor artificial light sources, such as fluorescent bulbs.
How Does Blue Light Affect You?
It’s like they always say: Too much of a good thing is … not so good.
Natural blue light is beneficial to our bodies. It helps to regulate our circadian rhythm (sleep cycle), keeping us alert and even enhancing our mood. But excessive exposure to blue light—especially from devices that we hold at close range and stare at for a long period of time—could potentially have negative effects.
What Does Blue Light Do to Your Eyes?
The reality is that our eyes aren’t very good at filtering blue light. Nearly all of it reaches our retinas. That’s why we need to consider the excessive exposure we’re getting from artificial sources, like our digital devices.
But with the newness of digital screen technology comes a lack of long-term studies and significant research. You’ll discover that findings vary greatly from source to source regarding blue light and whether it’s harmful.
Generally speaking, though, some experts believe that excessive blue light exposure from digital screens may be linked to eye strain or other eye conditions.
Does Blue Light Cause Headaches?
Computer vision syndrome, also known as digital eye strain, occurs when you spend a long time in front of digital screens such as laptops, tablets, and cell phones. While research is inconclusive as to the long-term effects of blue light, studies show that prolonged screen exposure can cause temporary discomfort, including pain from headaches. We’ll take a closer look below.
Does Blue Light Cause Eye Strain?
Many factors contribute to digital eye strain caused by excessive screen time. And yes, one of those factors may be prolonged exposure to blue light.
However, other things can contribute to digital eye strain as well. These factors include poor lighting, distance from the screen, reduced blinking rate, uncorrected vision problems, and the fact that our eyes must work harder to remain focused on text that’s on a digital screen.
Blue light may lead to digital eye strain symptoms, such as:
- Blurred vision
- Dry eyes
- Headaches
- Eye fatigue
How Does Blue Light Affect Sleep?
According to the CDC, blue light has more impact on our circadian rhythms (aka our sleep-wake cycle) than other colors. Natural exposure to blue light during the day is what cues our bodies to be awake and alert. As the sun sets each day, our bodies naturally produce melatonin, which helps us fall asleep and stay asleep.
Excessive exposure to blue light at night (think late-night phone scrolling or reading on a tablet in bed) may disrupt our circadian rhythms, making it hard to fall asleep and stay asleep. And sleep deprivation can cause plenty of issues, impacting our mood and cognitive function on a daily basis.
Does Blue Light Affect Macular Degeneration?
Macular degeneration (also known as age-related macular degeneration or AMD) causes a loss of central vision—what your eyes see when looking directly in front of you. Some sources, including the American Macular Degeneration Foundation, claim that exposure to blue light from the sun—which is far stronger than blue light from screens—may increase the risk of developing AMD or may contribute to its progression.
In any case, wearing sunglasses or glasses with blue-light-filtering lenses is a worthwhile preventive measure when outdoors. As for blue light from electronic devices, there’s not enough evidence to support the idea that it could affect the eyes in the same way as blue light from the sun.
Incidentally, the National Eye Institute says that certain dietary supplements may help slow the progression of AMD in people already affected by it.
How Does Blue Light Affect Kids?
Children’s eyes constantly develop as they grow. This means children may not withstand outdoor blue light as well as adults do. Accordingly, kids should wear proper eye protection when outdoors.
Today, children use digital screens more than ever. Too much screen time can affect kids’ vision development at an early age, resulting in myopia (nearsightedness), sleep disruption, and digital eye strain.
Studies show that balancing children’s time indoors versus outdoors can decrease the risk of nearsightedness as well as mitigate other health risks. Meanwhile, reducing artificial blue light at night promotes healthy sleeping habits.
Whether indoors or outdoors, limiting screen time and using proper eye wear can make a big difference.
Whether Blue Light Is Bad for Your Eyes…
Taking breaks from screen use, moisturizing your eyes with artificial tear drops, and blinking more when using digital screens may support good eye health. Also, reducing blue light from screen use at night and wearing eye protection outdoors can aid in getting the proper rest and avoiding overexposure to blue light.
It never hurts to protect yourself. If you’re concerned about your exposure to blue light from digital screens, you can always make an appointment with your eye doctor to discuss your screen usage and habits.
Your doctor can assess any symptoms you might be experiencing, give you more information about blue-light glasses, and help you determine if they might benefit you.
