Harmful Light From Digital Screen?
Do you realize that we spend most of our time in front of digital devices? We usually check our phone as soon as we wake up in the morning. Then we spend the whole day looking at computers, laptops and tablets at work. As we reach home, we lay in bed scrolling through the hand phone to catch up with the latest news and trends until we fall asleep. Even kids nowadays spend more than 7 hours a day engaging with digital devices to study online, watch Youtube, watch television and play games. This causes the eyes to be exposed to the harmful blue light for a long duration.
Do you know what blue light is? Its wavelength is in the blue portion of the electromagnetic spectrum roughly 400-500 nanometers (nm) blue light also emitted from digital screens such as hand phone, tablet, laptop and television. Blue light has its own pros and cons. During day it keeps us awake and it increases our attention and improves our mood. However, if we spend our nights looking at digital screens, we find it is hard for us to fall asleep early. How does this happen?
To be exact, blue light suppresses the secretion of hormone melatonin which is responsible for our circadian rhythms – an internal process that regulates the sleep-wake cycle. Melatonin is the hormone that helps the body to know when to sleep and to wake. Normally, melatonin is secreted at high level at night as it helps the body to sleep and relax.
However, if you are exposed to blue light at night, it suppresses the melatonin secretion thus affects your circadian rhythms. This causes you to sleep late at night and leads to more serious health problems due to lack of sleep. On the other hand, looking at digital screens can also cause eye strain, headache, blurred vision and dry eyes. This can become worse if followed by bad ergonomics such as using a hand phone while laying down or bad sitting posture in your office.
Using glasses with blue light protection can helps to reduce the eyes from being expose to harmful blue light with the presence of special coatings on the lenses. This can help to reduce the eye strain and headache. However, this does not mean that you are free to spend long hours in front of digital screens with the help of blue light filter. It’s best to reduce screen time and practice eye hygiene habit with 20-20-20 rule in which you are required to look away (about 20-feet away) every 20 minutes for 20 seconds. This helps to relax the eyes and the neck. On the other hand, you can drop artificial tears into the eyes to keep them lubricated.
For further enquiries, do pay a visit to Vantage Vision Care Optometrist Denai Alam or you can contact us :
