Effectiveness of Blue Light Glasses

Eye strain? Headaches? Staying up and not sleeping long enough? Most of our students are online for a significant amount of their day with school, homework, and hobbies like video gaming and social networking requiring an increased amount of screen time. I’m feeling the impact of eye strain going 100% virtual, and my students are continually reporting staying up way later, but not sleeping a minimum of 8 hours per night

I’ve been considering blue (and green) light blocking glasses, but I have no idea if they work. In theory, it makes sense. The sun has blue light, and our bodies don’t produce melatonin when the sun is out. The sun goes down, and that signals our bodies to produce melatonin so we can get tired and go to sleep. If we artificially add more blue light, it makes sense, in theory, that our bodies would suppress melatonin, thinking the sun is out, and we need to stay up.

I just listened to a video by Megan Hall, NBT Scientific Director and Coach, give her feedback. She referred to a study in The Journal of Neuroscience, Action Spectrum for Melatonin Regulation in Humans: Evidence for a Novel Circadian Photoreceptor, that sited 446nm-477nm was the most potent for melatonin suppression, so blocking that range, in theory, which she also stated…all of this is theoretical and based on the light spectrum vs. actual studies, is ideal. Apparently, green light is another one to block, with a spectrum of 400-550nm. If you purchase glasses, you might as well cover all of your bases.

Let us know if you use these and if they work for you.

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