Can you wear blue light glasses with other glasses?

Blue light glasses have been a trend recently. This is because we are in an age where artificial light is common such as LED lights, computer screens and more. Blue light is naturally found in sunlight where we see it in the day. This causes us to be awake. But since then, blue light from artificial source has been disrupting our sleep. If you are already wearing glasses, you might be wondering if you could wear it or not. So here is an article to tackle the topic.

To get straight to the point, people can wear blue light glasses with other glasses since it has a different function. Blue light glasses function by reducing the amount of blue light rays that goes into your eyes. This has been documented to reduce oxidative damage in your eyes and helps regulate sleep.

In reaching that conclusion, we have to discuss if blue light glass can be harmful to your eyes, do you need blue light glasses if you already have glasses such as anti-glare glasses, do blue light glasses actually work and why should you start thinking of wearing blue light glasses.

Do you need blue light glasses if you wear glasses?

People who are exposed on too much artificial blue light from lights and screens needs to think of wearing blue light glasses. Which there are glasses that has blue light reduction, most don’t. If your glasses don’t have blue light protection such as anti-glare or regular distance glasses, you might need to have a blue light glass which is different from your regular glasses.

The reason for this is that blue light glasses have a different purpose compared to other glasses.

For example, distance glasses or negative lenses are used for myopia or nearsightedness. These glasses’ job is to refract light by spreading it to fix myopia.

But going on point, blue light glasses are different so if you need to wear them, then you can wear them together. Since they have a different mechanism of action, they won’t affect the others.

But many people are confused between the difference of anti-glare glasses and blue light filtering glasses. So it needs to be discussed here.

Since Anti-Glare protection sometimes come with regular glasses, you might want to get a separate blue light glass because they are different from each other.

Are Blue Light Glasses the same with Anti-Glare glasses?

Blue light glasses are different with anti-glare glasses. Anti-glare glasses allow more light to enter through the lens. This is to prevent reflection in the eyeglasses. Reflection of images in the eyeglass can cause eyestrain and makes it harder to see things. Blue light glasses on the other hand reduces a specific wavelength of light which is also called blue light.

Since they are completely different from each other, you can wear them. But take note that blue light glasses are not anti-glare which means that there is a chance that you might experience some glare once wearing blue light glass with anti-glare glasses.

Other than that, it is perfectly fine to use them together.

Can blue light glasses harm your eyes?

There is no evidence that blue light glass can harm your eyes. In fact, it is suggested that blue light glasses can be an easy to use tool in making our lives better. Blue light glasses are helpful in regulating our sleep which in turn is proven to elevate mood and help our eyes get a good rest.

One of the study that tried involved 15 participants which are considered to have insomnia. In the experiment, they were given amber lens which is a type of blue light blocking glass. They are required to wear it 2 hours before bedtime.

The result, they were able to sleep way better than before.

Thus, blue light glass can be effective in making our eyes better. Because a proper rest is actually necessary for a healthy eyesight.

Source: Shechter, Ari et al. “Blocking nocturnal blue light for insomnia: A randomized controlled trial.” Journal of psychiatric research vol. 96 (2018): 196-202. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2017.10.015

Another is a research which studied blue light. They’ve found out that because blue light is a high energy visible light, it is associated with oxidative stress and damage to the eyes.

Damage caused by oxidative stressed were seen in the lens and retina of the eyes which is why some experts associate blue light to poor eye health.

Not only that, they also correlated intense blue light to age related macular degeneration.

Source: Zhao, Zhi-Chun et al. “Research progress about the effect and prevention of blue light on eyes.” International journal of ophthalmology vol. 11,12 1999-2003. 18 Dec. 2018, doi:10.18240/ijo.2018.12.20

But that is not the whole picture, a study published from the EBioMedicine titled: “Violet Light Exposure Can Be a Preventive Strategy Against Myopia Progression.” used artificial blue light and found out that blue light can reduce the likelihood of myopia.

Thus, there is also a study showing that blue light can be beneficial to the eyes as it can reduce the progression of myopia which is another term for nearsightedness.

Source: Torii, Hidemasa et al. “Violet Light Exposure Can Be a Preventive Strategy Against Myopia Progression.” EBioMedicine vol. 15 (2017): 210-219. doi:10.1016/j.ebiom.2016.12.007

Do blue light blocking glasses actually work?

Blue light glasses works in helping us sleep better. However, any direct benefit to the eyes has not been researched yet. Science has proven that blue light glasses can actually help us sleep better because our eyes are sensitive to blue light which in turn regulates melatonin.

In a research where participants are ordered to wear blue light blocking glasses 3 hours before sleeping, they have found out that people who are wearing these at night had an improved sleep.

Because of the good sleep, they were able to see a better overall mood for the participants and has proven that blue light glasses works especially in regulating our sleep at night.

“At the end of the study, the amber lens group experienced significant (p < .001) improvement in sleep quality relative to the control group and positive affect (p = .005). Mood also improved significantly relative to controls.”

-Burkhart K, Phelps JR. Amber lenses to block blue light and improve sleep: a randomized trial. Chronobiol Int. 2009 Dec;26(8):1602-12. doi: 10.3109/07420520903523719. PMID: 20030543.

The reason for this is, before the only natural blue light source we have is the sun. But with the rising popularity of led lights and screens, blue light is now everywhere.

This tricks our brain into thinking that it is still daytime even if at night.

Due to this, there are rising cases of insomnia especially in the developed nations.

Why you should wear blue light glasses?

People should consider wearing blue light glasses if they always stare at the screen even at night. This is because blue light affects our sleep by tricking our body into thinking that it is still daytime. This causes insomnia and overtime can be detrimental to our health. It is recommended to wear blue light glasses at least 2-3 hours before bedtime. That way, we can decrease the effect of blue light in our sleep.

But you don’t need to wear blue light glasses at day. This is because blue light is also good for our eyes. In the research study above, blue and violet light can actually help decrease the progression of myopia.

The only proven time to wear these type of glasses is when at night. This is because we need to block blue light to have a better sleep.

This is also especially useful for people with insomnia as also proven by the study mentioned above.