Similar to ultraviolet rays, blue light is on the light spectrum with the highest wavelength and highest energy form. While it definitely has its benefits, it also has its set of drawbacks that can be extremely damaging.
What is Blue Light?
Blue light mainly comes from the sun, and the maximum exposure to it occurs when one is outdoors in direct sunlight. However, with the advent of technological advancements, blue light has also become an artificial product. From LED lights to flat-screen television technology, blue light can be found in most modern products that feature some kind of light source.
Although it is a very small fraction of what the sun emits, the form of exposure is entirely different. Unlike the sun’s light, which is widespread and touches multiple surfaces and directions, blue light from screens is directly focused on the user’s eyes. In the past decade or so, it has become a major concern for healthcare professionals and optometrists in terms of deteriorating eye care and health, purely due to extended exposure.
Blue Light and Your Eyes
The human eye has no in-built feature to filter out or block blue light. Although fairly good at protecting the sensitive parts of the eye from ultraviolet rays, the eye is incapable of forming any kind of protective layer of filtration for blue light. As a result, blue light easily passes through the layers of the eye and directly hits the retina.
Blue Light and Macular Degeneration
Blue light’s ability to directly penetrate the eye can cause degeneration of the retina in a way similar to macular degeneration (the central part of the retina). It can cause major vision loss, and increase the risk of developing MD later in life. Blue light also causes a lot of strain on the eye muscles, because of how easily it scatters and increases the amount of strain needed to focus.
How to Protect Yourself
Not all blue light is immediately damaging. Scientists have found effective uses of it to stimulate vision, as well as the brain. It is simply a matter of knowing the damaging effects of it, and how to protect yourself from it whenever possible.
Simple acts of wearing sunglasses to protect your eyes from blue light, taking frequent breaks from screens, and employing night vision on devices (which makes the screen more yellow than blue) can go a long way in ensuring that blue light does not do any damage to your eyes.
Artificial lights used at home such as bulbs and other forms of portable lighting are damaging enough which necessitates certain protective measures and better lighting alternatives. Medical grade lamps from Dr Lite are carefully designed to minimize blue light exposure and glare to keep your eyes healthy. Visit us to know more about our lighting technology.
