I’m sure we’ve all heard how screen time would “rot our brains”, but despite this, the average American’s screen time has steadily increased over time. While digital devices do not necessarily cause brains to rot, the blue light emissions from digital devices can have a negative impact on our health. This blue light is the reason that we may feel tired or experience a headache from staring at our computers for an extended period of time; these symptoms are just a few associated with computer vision syndrome (CVS).
On average, Americans spend at least 6 hours a day looking at a screen, making CVS a problem for the general public. To address this growing issue, many commercial products have entered the market, including blue light glasses. These glasses claim to block the blue light emitted from screens and directly combat CVS, but this leaves the question of just how effective are commercially available blue light glasses.
Extended periods of time of looking at screens – not necessarily long periods of work – can contribute to headaches or feelings of fatigue.
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Radiologists often work long hours in front of a computer, interpreting cases and performing various tasks. For this reason, they are the perfect candidates for a study in the effectiveness of the blue light glasses. In a study published by Journal of Medical Imaging, radiologists were selected to study the effectiveness of commercially available blue light glasses. Half of the radiologists in the study were given blue light glasses while the other half were given an identical placebo pair. After work, each participant filled out a survey gauging their comfort levels and fatigue. The results notably found that the group that used blue light glasses reported less fatigue than the placebo. However, the article recommends further research before effectiveness of the glasses are accepted without doubt. While more research needs to be done to determine the efficacy of blue light glasses and reducing CVS, the study concludes that at the very least, commercially available glasses are unlikely to have a harmful effect.
In the meantime, there are other measures you can take to reduce the severity of CVS. The American Academy of Ophthalmologists recommends practicing the “20 20 20” rule. This rule suggests that for every 20 minutes spent looking at a screen, look at an object 20 feet away for 20 seconds. In addition, keeping a computer screen slightly tilted down to reduce glare, and sitting about 25 inches away are also effective. Digital screens are not leaving anytime soon; it’s important to take the necessary steps to make our eyes as comfortable as possible and keep them healthy.
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