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0:00 Okay, so we need to talk about blue light glasses again because there still seems to be a lot of confusion about them. Every single week I still get patients in the clinic asking me, "Do blue light glasses work or are they just a marketing scam?" And ultimately if it's something that I would recommend. So today this is my blue light glasses guide. We're going to be breaking down the different types of blue light glasses that exist and the new classification for them. We'll also share when blue light glasses and which type of blue light glasses may actually work in certain situations and then we'll even dispel some of the myths about blue light that are often spread across the internet. So blue light is part of the visible light spectrum, right? That is why we can see the color
0:45 blue. It is a shortwavelength high energy type of light and it is everywhere. It comes from the sun. It comes from our digital screens like our computer screens, our smartphones, our laptops, but it also comes from our indoor LED lighting. Right? Whether you are using lights at home or in the office, this blue light is emitted from everything. These devices are known to emit a higher peak or higher intensity of blue light versus other visible wavelengths. And so there's this concern that this could be either causing problems with eye strain, uh, with sleep disturbances, or even potentially cause long-term damage to the eye. And so then companies naturally came up with a solution, blue light glasses or blue
1:31 light blocking glasses. So here's the problem is that until recently, there was no standardized way to classify blue light glasses. Anybody could go online and buy a $20 pair of just blue light glasses on Amazon and think they were getting a good product when reality they had no idea what it's actually doing because a lot of blue light glasses will just say that they block 30% of blue light. But what does that mean? Which type of blue light? Which wavelengths is it actually blocking? Because clearly there is a difference between these types of lenses. So now we do have an ANZY standard for these types of blue light glasses. But we refer to them as HEV lenses for high energy visible light because it's not just blue light that they're blocking. It also blocks a violet light or potentially a blue
2:17 turquoise type of light. HEV1 lenses, the first classification, those block wavelengths of 455 up to 500 nmters of light. This is more of the blue turquoise type of light, which is known to affect more of our sleep cycles and our melatonin. And that's why these types of glasses are usually a darker yellow to almost an orange or amber colored lens. Some lenses may also block light in the HEV2 range, which goes between 400 to 455 nanometers of light and is known to have a higher energy, therefore increasing or having a higher risk of oxidative stress to the retinal tissues inside of the eye. And so these lenses often times I find are more of the clear type of
3:02 lenses or have just a subtle yellow tint to them and oftentimes have a higher quality type of anti-reflective or type of a glare lens that reflects a lot of blue or purple violet light off the surface of the lenses. These lenses are often made this way so that people can comfortably wear them throughout the day without having a significant change to their color vision, but also have that benefit of reduced oxidative stress and also not have a strong influence on their sleep cycle that they would get with that darker orange or amber colored lens. And then finally, we have the HEV3 zone which blocks 380 to 400 nmters of light which is more borderlining the UV light zone. So ultraviolet or violet purple colored light that has a higher
3:47 energy in the visible wavelengths. Okay, now let's pull back for a second because now that we know the different classifications of blue light glasses or these HEV lenses, let's talk symptoms. Blue light glasses really became popular in 2020 because of everybody struggling with digital eye strain, right? you're in front of a computer for long periods of time, your eyes feel sore, they're tired, maybe you're getting headaches, and so you go online and you find a lot of these companies saying, "Hey, buy these blue light glasses. It'll fix your eye strain." Did you notice that in the HV classifications, eye strain isn't mentioned in any of them. And that's because the vast majority of research in randomized clinical trials, they find that blue light glasses have no significant benefit of helping eye
4:32 strain versus just placebo. Now, despite this, many companies online still do market that their products help with digital eye strain. And perhaps that's built off of their own research using their products. But the vast majority of publicly available research regarding blue light glasses and eye strains still uh doesn't show a strong relationship. Now that being said, I have had a lot of patients anecdotally tell me in the clinic as well as my other colleagues that when they try blue light glasses, it does actually help them with their eye strain. So how could that be? Well, number one, it very well just could be placebo effect. We know that is the most wellstied and effective treatment for just about anything is placebo effect. And then I have two other theories. Uh
5:18 one is that it could potentially be a color psychology kind of color theory effect because we know that if you're wearing these type of glasses and everything looks subtly more yellow that may have kind of this yellow warming kind of calming effect. In fact, that's why they paint a lot of kind of walls and office buildings kind of a subtle yellow color because there is a sort of calming tranquil effect. Or perhaps it's because a lot of blue light glasses again have an anti-reflective or anti-glare coating on them. And some people may just be in fact sensitive to glare from their screen. However, I will say that if you're somebody who spends a lot of time in front of a computer screen and has problems with eye strain. The vast majority of research shows that ice strains actually related to dry eye issues because we tend to not blink as often in front of screens. And that's
6:04 where the new Wink Eye Serum from Tear Restore, today's video sponsor, comes in. Now, if you haven't heard of the Wink refreshing eyelid serum yet, this is a cooling eyelid serum that's been specifically designed for screen heavy days. It contains not only natural cooling plant extracts, but also it contains hyaluronic acid, niainamide, and some caffeine, which are all known to help with the appearance of dark circles and under eye bags. And when applied to the eyelid skin, the vapors of the cooling plant extracts stimulate the eyelid and the eye to blink more often. And again, most of us don't blink enough when we're in front of these digital screens. And it does this while not only hydrating the eyelid skin, but also without any irritation. The effect lasts up to two hours and is safe to
6:49 reapply before work, before gaming, or just long hours in front of the screen. I even know some dry eye specialists who are now recommending this for some of their patients. If this is something that's new to you and you'd like to check it out, learn more, you can find more information out on the Tier Restore website. It's also available on Amazon. Otherwise, huge again, shout out and thank you to Tier Restore for being such an amazing sponsor and supporter of this channel and helping us drive our mission of delivering better eye health education for everyone. Now, let's get back to talking about blue light glasses because what if you're somebody who doesn't struggle with eye strain in front of the computer? you're just somebody who's more concerned about your sleep cycle and optimizing your sleep cycle in the evenings, then getting a darker orange or amber colored blue light glass may be able to help. That is because inside of the eye, there is a
7:36 specialized cell called an IP RGC or intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cell. And this cell inside the eye does not communicate or have a role with eyesight. It doesn't help you recognize letters on the wall. It instead just receives light and communicates that to the brain to help regulate things like your sleep cycle, your alertness, and some other roles. And that cell happens to be most sensitive to light of around 470 to 480 nanometers of light, which happens to be in that HEV1 zone. However, not every brand of blue light glasses have adopted the new ANZY standard or HEV classification just yet. So something that I look for when I'm evaluating blue
8:22 blockers is I look for the amount of wavelength that they are suppressing. For example, this company on their website thankfully does say what percentage uh it blocks at the 455 nanometer zone which happens to be the cutoff for the HEV1 zone. But as a general rule, you can even see here that the more yellow or orange the lenses become, usually the more HEV1 or higher wavelengths of the blue green light will it kind of block out. So this is where blue light glasses could actually help somebody. If somebody is struggling with their sleep cycles and wants to try everything they can, then perhaps these would be
9:08 something to try. But if you are somebody who is struggling really hard with your sleep and you're thinking about getting a pair, I have some other thoughts of things just to consider, too. Number one is that usually wearing these types of blue light blockers all day long. Not recommended because wearing these types of glasses could ultimately throw off your circadian rhythm the other direction because getting blue light into the eyes is actually stimulating and helps us be more awake and alert, especially when getting blue light in the early mornings and throughout the day. twos know that most digital devices now have a blue light filter mode where the screen will turn to a darker orange color in the evenings to reduce the blue light. Also, just holding these devices further away from your eyes also dramatically reduces
9:56 the blue light exposure. And number three is to remember it's not just your digital devices that emit blue light, but your indoor lights do as well. And it's not just blue light that stimulates your eyes. All forms of light can throw off your sleep cycle. So, in the evenings, it's best to try to dim your lights a little bit. Also, be aware of your bedtime. Try shutting off your devices and try to do activities that are less stimulating, even considering sleeping with like an eye mask perhaps because then it blocks out all light. So, what about the blue light blockers that don't help with your sleep? These are instead the lenses that are more clear or just slightly yellow or would block more of the HEV2 or three zone. Because I have a lot of patients who every week ask me if staring at the computer screen is going to ruin their
10:42 eyes. And the answer to that is no. Not likely. Because the amount of intensity of blue light that you get from a computer screen is nowhere near what you get from something like the sun. In fact, it's been calculated that 24 hours in front of a computer screen only equals the intensity of blue light you get from one minute out in sunlight. And with that being said, there are research studies that show an association that people who spend more time in sunlight do have a higher risk of some aging eye diseases like macular degeneration, for example. But still with that, the research is not fully conclusive. And that's why it's not standard of care for eye doctors to recommend these types of glasses uh for everybody unless maybe
11:28 they're at high risk of developing one of those diseases. And in those cases, it's more of a case-byase basis. So, in conclusion, are blue light glasses a scam? Well, honestly, it's hard for me to say that they're really a scam, but I will say that there are a lot of marketing claims that are not necessarily supported by clinical science. The one thing is that if you are struggling with sleep in the evenings and you want to try blue light glasses, the ones that are labeled for helping with sleep cycles, those perhaps could help some people. Even myself, I will wear some blue light glasses in the late evenings if I know I'm going to be working late at night after the sun has gone down. And if you want to know some of the brands that I'm aware of and trust, then I'll put some links in the
12:14 show notes for you. Otherwise, if you are thinking about getting blue light glasses to help with your eye strain, just know there's not as much clinical evidence to support that. But if you do want to know real clinical tips, things that have been supported in the research to help with your eye strain on the computer, then check out one of our next videos coming over here to the side. Otherwise, thank you so much for watching today and I hope you have a fantastic rest of your week. Keep an eye on it and we'll see you in that next
