Do blue-light glasses help with eye strain?
3 min read
After a full day at the computer, my eyes feel heavy by evening. Would blue-light glasses make it easier?
The short answer: no clear benefit for reducing eye strain has been confirmed. What seems more likely to help is something much plainer.
Contents
Reviewing the research: no confirmed benefit for eye strain
A 2023 Cochrane review of randomized controlled trials on blue-light filtering lenses concluded that, for reducing eye strain from computer work, they probably offer no short-term advantage over ordinary lenses [1].
For sleep, results differed between studies, and the certainty was rated very low. For protecting eye health (the macula), there were no randomized trials that looked at it.
There's also no evidence that wearing them causes harm. But as "something to buy for eye strain," the evidence currently falls short.
Not recommended for children
In 2021, the Japanese Ophthalmological Society, the Japan Ophthalmologists Association, and other groups issued a statement urging caution about having children wear blue-light glasses [2].
Their reasons: the blue light from computer and phone screens is less than outdoor light on a cloudy day or sunlight through a window, and not enough to damage the retina. And children need sunlight for healthy development, so blocking light could actually do harm. On that basis, they said there's no evidence to recommend wearing them.
POINT
The cause of eye strain may be less the color of the light than the act of staring at a screen itself.
What seems to help: breaks
A well-known approach is the "20-20-20 rule": every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet (about 6 m) away for 20 seconds.
In a study where computer workers used software reminding them of this rule for two weeks, they took more breaks, and their eye strain and dry-eye symptoms decreased. But a week after they stopped using the software, the improvement hadn't lasted [3].
In other words, breaks seem to help, but stop taking them and things go back to how they were.
What you can do when using screens
- Build breaks into the system: use a timer or app to make time every 20 minutes to look into the distance
- Remember to blink: when you focus on a screen, you blink less and your eyes dry out more easily
- Cut back on screens before bed: as I wrote in "Can you change being a morning or night person?", light at night can delay your body clock
- Reduce screen time itself: "Should you spend less time on social media?"
If eye pain or blurry vision persists, or your vision suddenly changes, see an eye doctor.
References
1. Singh S, et al. (2023). Blue-light filtering spectacle lenses for visual performance, sleep, and macular health in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CD013244.
2. Japanese Ophthalmological Society, Japan Ophthalmologists Association, Japan Myopia Society, Japanese Association of Strabismus and Amblyopia, Japanese Society of Pediatric Ophthalmology, Japan Association of Certified Orthoptists. (2021). Statement of caution regarding the wearing of blue-light blocking glasses by children (in Japanese).
3. Talens-Estarelles C, et al. (2023). The effects of breaks on digital eye strain, dry eye and binocular vision: Testing the 20-20-20 rule. Contact Lens and Anterior Eye.