To Blue (Light Glasses) or Not To Blue (Light Glasses)
Featured: SHADEZ Blue Light Glasses.
Kiddies Eye Care - Yarraville
With the use of technology and devices more rampant than ever for children with remote learning, are blue light glasses an investment I should make?
Truth is, if they have eye strain, headaches or dizziness, a pair of blue light glasses should not be your solution. This, I cannot stress enough.
With Victorian children getting more screen time during lockdown, there's been a spike in demand for glasses that help digital eye strain. @justinemack9 #9News pic.twitter.com/aR1IrCCQxE
— Nine News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb) August 19, 2020
Realistically, 1 in 4 children still have an undetected vision problem. If you are considering investing in a pair of blue light glasses, it is so important that you ensure that you rule out any underlying eye issues which may be undetected first.
If your child is complaining of headaches, dizziness, eye fatigue or any other symptoms, an eye test is crucial. With the transition from looking at the board in the distance to a smaller screen, symptoms are more likely arising from an inability to focus properly for long periods of time as opposed to increased screen time. Eye teaming, coordination and accommodating issues can manifest as these familiar symptoms, no matter how mild.
In our clinic, many patients opt in for the blue block lens coating over their prescription lenses as we find that it softens the harshness of the light. (At the moment, a lot of our patients are finding this too.) I won’t deny this at all. My entire family (myself included) have a blue-light coating on our lenses. However, more importantly, we have also diagnosed and treated the vision condition at hand.
We would never recommend plain blue light glasses straight off the bat until all other visual issues have been ruled out. You can’t reap any of the potential benefits of blue light lenses with an undiagnosed and untreated visual problem.
Uncorrected vision is proven to have a much more harmful impact on your child’s learning and wellbeing than the use of blue light devices alone.
Lockdown and remote learning have been an opportunity for many parents to realise that their child may have a vision problem and we have seen a number of children benefit from prescription glasses in their learning.
“Before investing in a ‘quick fix’, invest in your child’s vision and their visual system in the long term. Make sure they’re not that 1 in 4 children with an undetected vision problem.”
Blue light glasses are simply a bandaid for other undetected vision issues which may further develop if left untreated and further impact your child’s learning. Don’t miss that opportunity to give your child the best chance at learning and life by checking their vision.
If you have any questions about vision, focusing, or blue light filters, your optometrist should be able to guide you.