5 Things You Can do to Avoid Eye Strain including Blue Light Blocking Glasses

Blue Light glasses, New Wave glasses, cat eye anti blue light glasses

Social distancing has made most people spend an absurd amount of time on their electronic devices. Whether it’s watching Netflix, playing a game, or working from home, electronics have become a major part of everyone’s day. And why shouldn’t they? Quick, easy and accessible entertainment is what they’re made for! Scrolling through Instagram keeps us busy for hours on end and lets us escape our daily lives.

Although electronics can be extremely useful in a time of social isolation, they can also be harmful to our eyes. Digital screens produce a light commonly known as “blue light”. This type of light is known to cause eye strain. Some symptoms of eye strain include: sore, tired, burning or itching eyes, watery or dry eyes, blurred or double vision, and feeling like you can’t keep your eyes open.

The effects of blue light are uncomfortable but luckily, eye strain can usually be cured by taking a few, necessary precautions. Here are five things you can do to avoid eye strain.

Eye, Creative, Galaxy, Collage, Flowers, no eye strain — Protect these beauties!

1. Blue Light Blocking Glasses

Most of us are aware of the havoc the sun’s UV rays can wreak on our vulnerable eyes. In order to stay safe, many people opt to wear a pair of sunglasses.

Well, “blue light blocking glasses” are basically sunglasses for your electronics. Instead of UV protection, they protect from the blue light emitted from digital devices. Our friends at New Wave Eyewear partnered up with BKM to offer our friends and family 20% OFF any pair of their choice (We all chose the cat eyes MEOW!) to help ease your pandemic doomscrolling ;) the first of many #Bkmlovesme deals for our readers.

Just make sure that they absorb 90 to 99 percent of light. Some even claim that using these glasses regularly may reduce your risk of cataracts. Want to stay stylish and healthy? Treat yourself to a pair of these magical glasses.

2. Display and Brightness

Lamp, Light, Hand, Idea, Lights, Darkness, Lighting — Most electronic devices offer users the option to play around with the brightness of the screen

Make staring at the screen easier by turning down the brightness. This will lessen the harsh, bright light and help your eyes adjust to the lighting. Another option is to turn on “night shift”. This makes the colours on your screen warmer. The warmer the colours, the less blue light, the screen emits.

Some even claim that this helps users get better sleep! This option is especially easy and can help your eyes so much. All you have to do is head to your device’s settings and customize the screen to your liking.

3. “Anti-blue light” Screen Filter

Laptop, Notebook, Macbook, Pro, Work, Technology to avoid eye strain — Wearing special glasses or turning down the brightness can sound great to many adults. Most kids, on the other hand, would be opposed to wearing glasses when they don’t need them

Investing in a screen filter will make sure that their eyes are protected and safe from that pesky blue light. This option is also great for those of us who don’t want to add an extra pair of glasses to their collection or, would end up constantly losing them.

Amazon has a couple of great, affordable screen filters you can choose from now. Screen filters are affordable, easy to use, and travel friendly. Save your screen from cracking and your eyes from lacking!

4. Technicalities

Smartphone, Mobile Phone, Signal, Signal Strength, blue light blocking eyewear — Holding your device at an angle can help your eyes a ton.

Since blue light is emitted straight out of the device, holding it at an angle can reduce the amount of light that hits your eyes. Just experiment with what works best with your eyes. You should be able to tell when eye strain has lessened.

Software plugins can also be installed to alter the light of your screen. However, for most electronics, this can also be achieved manually.

5.Take a break

friends sitting and drinking coffee avoiding eye strain — Electronics are super fun and provide constant entertainment. Part of today’s culture includes them in perpetual usage.

Most of us are probably sick and tired of hearing the phrase: “Get off your phone!”. The #1 reason this is so commonly said is because of the dangers of blue light. Knowing this simple trick, can be very beneficial for your health and minimize the effects of this harmful glow.

The best way to avoid blue light is to not look at a screen. Staring at your devices for hours on end will cause eye strain but most cases of this can be cured with a simple break. A way to control your screen time is to keep track of time while you’re on your devices.

Apps such as screen time tell you how many hours you spend on your phone every week. Putting down the electronics and doing anything else such as going for a walk or cooking, can go a long way in easing and avoiding eye strain.

Sitting in front of a screen all day is not good for your physical and mental health. Help yourself and your precious eyes by taking some safety precautions.

Which of these tricks would you use? Do you already have to use any? Don’t hesitate to share your experiences with us!

The last way to help minimize blue light and not have to put on your blue light blocking glasses is to dine Al Fresco & enjoy a gorgeous (and Covid-19 super compliant) Montreal terrace and soak up the last drops of Summer…