Should I Wear Blue Light Glasses

What are computer glasses?

Computer glasses are glasses that you wear to block the blue light that emanates from computer screens. You may also hear them referenced to as gamer glasses or blue light glasses. They are designed to help reduce the strain and subsequent headaches many people experience from prolonged computer use.

Do blue light glasses work?

In my own experience, blue light glasses have helped reduce the number of headaches I experience and made it easier to sleep. Now, I am not a medical professional and there were other variables that may have impacted my reduction in headaches at the time; but I do believe the glasses played a large role.

I spend about 12 - 15 hours per day in front of a computer as it's how I run my entire business. I seldom meet people face to face so I have little reason to actually leave the computer screen. As an introvert, I am living the dream! However, my eyes and ability to sleep are suffering.

What computer glasses should I buy?

After some research, I landed on the Horus X Gaming Glasses. The lenses were an amber color which is not only cool but they filter about at least 36% more blue light than the clear variant, according to the manufacturer. Plus, the amber color look like the glasses the Marvel Vampire Hunter Blade wore in movies which is a major bonus for me!

The glasses normally retail for $59.99 USD but I got mine on sale for $34.99. Even at full price, they are worth the purchase.

According to the makers of Horus, the glasses filter harmful allows for enhanced color perception. I have personally not experienced any enhanced perception of color so far. The amber tint of the glasses is actually a detriment to some of tasks.

One of which is the design of web pages and applications. For those who work in front-end development, it's important to get the right set of colors for the look and feel of your project. To be successful, you need to look at your design through the eyes of your users, who will probably not be wearing amber-tinted glasses (unless Blade is one of them!).

To get around this, I keep the glasses on when writing code but during the QA of the app I remove them long enough to confirm the colors are as they should be.

Can I wear blue light glasses all the time?

I've worn my Horus X glasses outside on a number of occasions and never experienced any adverse effects. Some people recommend not doing so as it reduces the amount of "good light" you can absorb from the Sun. Personally, I'm not a big fan of sunlight and being outside in general but it does make sense.

There are definitely a few benefits to sunlight although too much exposure can be dangerous, especially for those of us who live in Florida. Wearing your glasses outside won't hurt you but it probably isn't helping you much either.

Should I wear computer glasses at work?

I wear mine whenever I am in front of a computer. As such, I often have them on during video calls. I've heard a few comments like "Oh, I did no know you wore glasses!" but no one seemed to be too shocked by them.

The reactions vary by the environment. If you are on a call with a group of Software Engineers, the glasses probably won't be that big of a deal. But a crowd of older investment bankers might be put off by them. Either way, if they don't like the way you look they can avert their eyes!

Do you need to wear blue glasses?

While you can certainly go through life without computer glasses and survive, I wouldn't recommend it. If you work on computers for long hours, you will need to protect your eyes or your quality of life suffers. Wearing blue-light-blocking glasses has helped me dramatically reduce the number of headaches I have, which to me, is priceless.

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