this question might be one of the most common questions that i get all of the time
with kids spending more time on screens these days whether it's tvs phones tablets
computer screens distance learning with school the answer to the question if kids need
blue blocking glasses might surprise you so let's focus in
hey howdy everybody i'm Dr. Neal Guymon, Dr. EyeGuy and i'm on a mission to keep your eyes
healthy and your vision clear and i do videos all about the eyes so consider subscribing so
you don't miss any of my future videos now let's talk about blue light and kids glasses now this
video is part of a more in-depth series of videos about blue light and blue light blocking glasses
i'll add more videos to the series as i go along so make sure you check out the link to that series
in the description below now let's do a quick review of what blue light actually is quick
whiteboard action here this is the spectrum of light represented by wavelengths of light with
this side being short wavelengths high energy it's kind of like having a super punch that can punch
through multiple layers whereas this side large wavelengths of light carry low energy it's kind
of like just slapping your hands around very low energy this small little section here is visible
light what we can actually register and see now on the smaller side of wavelengths high energy
is the blue light and that's why blue light is studied so much in detail to see how much that
can affect our eyes blue light is broken down roughly from 400 to 500 nanometers of wavelength
with 400 to 450 being the high energy visible light we'll talk about that more in detail 450
to 500 being the area that can affect our sleep cycle let's talk about this more detail now
there are three main areas of study of how blue light affects our eyes number one is blue light
dangerous is it causing damage to our eyes or our children's eyes number two does blue light cause
or contribute to digital eye strain or computer vision syndrome from using the screens a lot
number three how does blue light affect our sleep our circadian rhythm or our biological clock
the first area relates to that high energy visible light and can it damage our eyes
now the studies and the science aren't there yet there were a couple studies where they showed on
rats eyes and humans retinal cells on petri dishes where they expose them to large amounts of high
energy visible light more than we'll ever get in our lifetime did show damage to those cells but
our eyes do have their own protective mechanisms in there so can we automatically make that leap
that's going to damage the eyes we can't make that leap yet so that's one thing you just want to be
careful with other blue light blocking glasses companies when they make that claim you just want
to be careful there the next area that's studied is if blue light from your screens is actually
causing digital eye strain and the studies on this one are completely mixed there's some studies that
show yes there is definitely a link some studies even more recent studies show no blue light is not
causing the digital eye strain and we'll find that in the clinic as well with patients some patients
will have that blue block on their glasses and say it's a game changer completely helps them with
their eye fatigue and digital eye strain and some patients that have it say there's no difference at
all when they have it on their glasses what we do know is that computer vision syndrome is caused by
extended use of screens tablets phones and that's usually from using your focusing muscles for
a long period of time when you're looking at a screen focusing on a screen your eye muscles can
get fatigued and tired causing that digital eye strain not necessarily coming from the blue light
that's coming from the screens now this is where i want you to pay attention the next area that's
studied is how blue light affects your sleep your circadian rhythm or your biological clock
now generally how light does this when the sun comes up your eyes see the light sends the signal
to the brain and holds the production of melatonin so you're awake and alert during the day when the
sun goes down your eye notices there's not any light sends the signal to the brain the brain
starts the production of melatonin which makes you get tired makes you fall asleep and makes you have
a better more restful sleep now does blue light affect your sleep or your child's sleep this is
a yes and absolutely yes this is true and this is the important one now the wavelength of blue light
can suppress the production of melatonin twice as much as green light or other colors of light
that's why the blue light coming from your screens can actually affect you and your children and
their sleep now the peak wavelength of blue light coming from your screens is about 455 nanometers
and that falls in that area where it can affect your sleep cycle so if your children are using
screens closer to bedtime that blue light can suppress melatonin production and mess with their
sleep and this is where blue light glasses come in handy for blue light blocking glasses you want to
get glasses that block that area of a wavelength to help with your child's melatonin production
usually when you're picking up blue light blocking glasses you'll notice that they
have a yellow tint or even a darker orange tint these will block that area or that wavelength area
that is messing with the sleep cycle so quick recap is the blue light coming from screens
actually damaging your child's eyes we can't make that leap in fact the blue light come from screens
is nowhere near the amount of blue light that comes from the sun and so likely the blue light
coming from your screens is not damaging number two does the blue light coming from screens cause
digital eye strain maybe blue light glasses might help with that you'll also find some kids where
they don't even notice any improvement with blue light blocking glasses there number three and
this is the big one is the blue light coming from screens messing with your child's sleep
yes it's messing with their melatonin production and this is where blue blocking glasses will help
if you're on a screen right now and you're wearing blue light glasses hit that like button and
comment below how they work for you so after all that being said what do i recommend that you do
for your child to protect their eyes the number one recommendation is to stop all screen time
at least two hours before bedtime now this will probably be the hardest recommendation to follow
especially nowadays but if you can stop screen time two hours before bed that will help your
child sleep memory retention and overall health the next thing that i'll recommend is to get an
updated eye exam you want to make sure that your child doesn't have any uncorrected astigmatism
farsightedness nearsightedness eye teeming issues they can get glasses that can help with those
specific issues and that alone can help reduce their digital eye strain recommendation number
three involves computer vision syndrome now i did a specific video about that you can check that
here or in the description below the main thing here is for your child to use the 20 20 20 rule
every 20 minutes take a 20 second break looking 20 feet away making sure that they're blinking their
eyes that they're relaxing their eyes they mainly get a break from the screens that they're using
keeps their eyes from getting dry and overall helps their eyes from getting strained out from
screen use number four would be to take advantage of the blue filter or night modes on the screens
that you're using a lot of computer screens or computer programs phones tablets even some tv
screens have a blue filter or a night mode that filters out the blue light i would definitely
take advantage of that especially if they're using screens getting closer to bedtime and my
final recommendation after you've done all the other recommendations those being more important
then i would get your child blue light blocking glasses now you want to be specific on what blue
light blocking glasses you're going to get for your child you want to get glasses that
will block that wavelength of blue light that affects your child's sleep cycle and that usually
involves blue light glasses that have a yellow tint or even a darker orange tint that blocks
even more of the blue light now unfortunately that tint will change the color of the screens
and so your child might not like it but it's important to block that area of blue light
especially if they're using the screens getting closer to bedtime now as you're searching for
blue light glasses you might find some that have a subtle yellow tint to them these are probably
still blocking a certain small percentage of that important blue wavelength of light and they don't
change the color of the screens as much as those other glasses do so your child might like wearing
these more than the darker yellow or orange tints of glasses now you'll also find clear blue light
glasses that maybe have a blue light block coating on them those glasses are likely just blocking
the high energy visible wavelength of light and not even touching the wavelength that affects
your sleep so those would be last on the list of what i would recommend now that being said when
you go to your local optical or local eye doctor the blue block that they can put on your glasses
is a higher technology meaning they can keep the lenses fairly clear and still block that high
energy visible light and the blue light wavelength that can affect your sleep so usually the blue
block that you have on your prescription glasses from your local eye doctor is better quality now
one thing i want to note here is that blue light and the effects of blue light is still being
studied today so a lot of these recommendations might change in the future we'll just have to be
open for the changes as new studies come in now as you're looking for blue light glasses see if
you can get your hands on a spectral analysis of those particular glasses that will tell you what
wavelengths and what percentages of blue light those glasses actually block and that will be
very helpful to know if those glasses are worth getting now what's tricky is a lot of the blue
light glasses that you can get on amazon don't give that information out they might not even have
that information so it's really hard to tell what those glasses are actually doing now remember to
check out the description below i hooked you up with some links to some certain blue light glasses
that i recommend and if you get a chance please share this video there are a lot of people that
are wondering if they need blue light blocking glasses for their children as always thanks for
watching this video i'm Dr. Neal Guymon, Dr. EyeGuy, focusing on you and your eyes stay
focused make sure you check out my other videos right there and i'll see you in the next video