Many people who spend most of their day working on a laptop or computer screen complain about their eyes feeling strained and tired. In fact research shows that digital eye strain also known as computer vision syndrome has increased substantially in recent years. A major contributing factor to this condition is the brightness emitted by digital screens.
Anti glare glasses and blue light blocking glasses can help relieve digital eye strain symptoms. The symptoms of digital eye strain include blurred vision, tired eyes, stinging eyes and headaches. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, it's important to visit a medical eye doctor for a proper diagnosis so you can proceed with the necessary and appropriate treatment.
In some cases, wearing a pair of glasses might be a simple solution to help you relieve these symptoms or prevent them from developing. Even though glasses are mainly used by people who have difficulty in their vision, nowadays many people are getting prescription free glasses to protect their eyes from developing digital eye strain. So what kind of glasses should you be wearing? In this article we explain everything you need to know about anti glare glasses and blue light blocking glasses to help you make the right choice that suits your needs.
Anti glare glasses vs blue light glasses: what are they used for?
It can be confusing to choose between anti glare glasses, also called anti reflective glasses, and blue light blocking glasses. The key difference between blue light glasses and anti glare glasses is that blue light glasses block the blue light high energy rays emitted from the led screens. While anti glare glasses have an outer coating on the lense to minimize the light reflection and glare for a clearer vision.
An important distinction to make is that anti glare glasses allow all the visible light to be absorbed by our eyes. While good quality blue light blocking glasses block and filter the harmful blue light rays being emitted from several devices and lights surrounding us throughout our day. Repeated exposure to this harmful shortwave blue light on a daily basis has become increasingly prevalent which causes damage to our eyes.
Anti reflective glasses are primarily designed to eliminate the light reflection from the lenses and make the vision clearer to see. Anti glare glasses are mainly used by people while driving at night to prevent accidents due to light reflection in their eyes. When the light is too strong and bright, it can disturb your vision. This makes it harder to see clearly at night due to heavy reflection. So anti glare glasses can help prevent accidents at night and keep you safe.
On the other hand, blue light blocking glasses are mainly designed for people who spend a significant amount of hours in front of a computer or a laptop screen. Blue light emitted from the screen is high in energy and is quite harmful, despite being invisible to the naked eye. Exposure to blue light also disrupts sleep patterns and can lead to other undesirable symptoms like headaches, eye macular degeneration and insomnia.
To protect your eyes and overall health from this harmful blue light, wearing proper science baked blue light blocking glasses comes in handy. A good pair of blue light blocking glasses also protects your eyes from discomfort and ensures that you get a good rest at night.
What are blue light blocking glasses?
Even though you don’t see the blue light being emitted from all the devices and lights surrounding you, it’s there! You’re practically being exposed to it day and night. Blue light is also emitted from the sun, and it sends signals to our brain that we should be awake and alert during daytime. That’s completely fine, however, apart from absorbing natural blue light from the sun, your eyes are exposed to harmful blue light emitted from digital screens like computers, mobile phones, tv screens and laptops. Being exposed to harmful blue light for a significant amount of time causes harmful damaging effects to your eyes and overall health.
Moreover, when you’re watching tv or Netflix on your laptop, or scrolling through your news feed on your smartphone to relax after work, you’re still being exposed to blue light. So your brain is still receiving the signal to stay awake and alert. Apart from causing eye related issues, blue light messes with your natural biological clock. It inhibits melatonin secretion by the pineal gland in the brain which is the chemical that makes you feel sleepy at night.
Our high quality blue light glasses with anti glare coating can protect you from these harmful effects as they are specifically designed to block the blue light so it’s not absorbed by your eyes. Wearing blue light blocking glasses helps you get better sleep and relieve digital eye strain and eye discomfort. If you spend many hours on a computer, you will find that wearing these kinds of glasses can be quite soothing for your eyes and will help you work more comfortably in front of the bright LED screens.
Thanks to modern technology, our blue light glasses can also help you protect your eyes from serious conditions which could lead to vision loss. So even if you don’t need prescription glasses, wearing blue light blocking glasses is highly recommended to avoid these circumstances.
What are anti glare glasses?
Anti-glare glasses remove the glare of light by the lenses to help you see more clearly without having to squint when you’re using a laptop screen. So they help your eyes feel more comfortable. Anti reflective glasses are generally used by people working under bright sunlight or bright LED screens.
These glasses also come in handy when you are taking photographs while wearing glasses as the light of the camera doesn't reflect on the glasses. However, keep in mind that anti glare glasses do not block any spectrum of light. So the downside to wearing them is that they still allow the blue light of the LED screens to be absorbed by your eyes.
Another disadvantage is that anti reflective coating can make glasses more susceptible to scratches or showing fingerprint marks. So you would need to clean it quite often using a special type of cloth.
Anti-glare glasses can certainly help you work more comfortably, but you can also obtain these results by wearing our two in one blue light blocking glasses which also have the anti glare coating applied to them, while protecting your eyes from the harmful blue light.
Main differences between anti glare glasses vs blue light glasses
- Anti Glare glasses are lenses with an anti-reflective coating layer on the lenses to eliminate glare by bright light. (this is usually a green coating)
- Blue Light Glasses are specifically designed to block and filter the harmful blue light.
- Anti Glare glasses help you see more clearly, but do not protect your eyes.
- Blue Light Glasses protect your eyes during the day and promote a good sleep at night.
- Blue Light Glasses are highly recommended for people working in led lit areas, or spending long hours using a computer screen or devices.
- Anti Glare glasses block additional glare from passing through the glasses.
- Blue Light Glasses block and filter blue light from passing through the glasses.
- Anti Glare glass does not block any light, including blue light.
Similarities between anti reflective glasses and blue light glasses
If you had to compare anti-reflective glasses and BlockBlueLight's blue light glasses, they both have anti-reflective coatings. So they both have the benefit of reducing glare. The difference is that our blue light glasses have the added defense of the blue light-blocking feature in addition to the anti-reflective coating.
Which one is best for my needs?
Both types of glasses have different properties. The main anti glare glasses benefit is that you can see more clearly as they reduce glare from bright lights. If you are exposed to artificial light from screens and lighting during your work, it is always advisable to wear glasses with protection. Artificial light can stress the eyes and tire them, which can lower your performance at work and compromise your health.
Our range of blue light blocking glasses not only protect you from harmful blue light, but they also have an anti glare coating on them. We have carefully designed our glasses with both technologies, so they have the best of both technologies all in one.
For people who spend most of their time indoors exposed to artificial light, or using digital screens, we highly recommend our ScreenTime Clear Lens Computer Glasses, and DayMax Yellow Lens Glasses range. These blue light glasses protect you from harmful blue light, and also have anti glare coating. They are specifically designed to reduce blue light, while allowing enough light to keep you awake and alert during daytime. It’s the perfect balance!
During evening hours, we highly suggest that you switch to our SunDown and NightFall range which have been carefully designed for night time use. These glasses both have an anti glare coating while blocking 100% harmful blue light. This ensures that you get a good night's sleep as your circadian rhythm will not be disrupted with blue light exposure.
For optimal blue light protection, the NightFall range would be the best choice as apart from blue light, it blocks 100% of green light up to 550nm. Green light is also known to cause melatonin disruption. Wearing these glasses ensures that you get full protection and can really help people who struggle with insomnia.
Final thoughts
When it comes to choosing between anti glare glasses or blue light blocking glasses it can be frustrating. You want to make sure that you choose the option that best suits your needs.
To make things easier for you, we have created our daytime and night-time blue light blocking glasses with both technologies. That way you can benefit from both properties provided by our advanced blue light blocking technology, as well as anti-reflective coating. If you already have glasses, you can also have a look at our Fitover & Clip-on Blue Light Glasses.
References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6020759/
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/melatonin
