Blue Light and you: protecting your vision from unseen threats

Ever notice that you seem to be squinting at your phone screen more often than you used to? Do the hours in front of your laptop seem to be taking more of a toll these days? You rub your eyes and get a couple of eye drops in them, thinking, it’s nothing to worry about, right? You’re young -- barely in your mid-twenties, and you think that your eyes can stand a bit of strain.

Well, you aren’t wrong. When you’re young, your eyes still recover easily from the demands of a hyperactive lifestyle: the late night study sessions, the hours spent in front of a gaming console or television, or extended sessions of surfing the internet on your phone.

But you aren’t immune, either. Science has verified that younger people have their eye health under threat from something completely unique to their generation, an excessive exposure to blue light.

What is Blue Light?

Natural light, which we see as white, isn’t white at all, but a combination of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet light. Each one travels from the source along a different wavelength and carries different energy.
Blue light has more energy and a shorter wavelength than the other components, and while it is naturally found in large concentrations in sunlight, it is also present in fluorescent light, LED light, and most sources of artificial light such as computer monitors, smart phones, and tablet screens.

In small doses, blue light is beneficial. It stimulates our brain into becoming more active, and helps regulate your moods and body rhythms. However, with the rise of the amount people spend on their digital devices, the average person’s exposure to blue light has gone from healthy to worryingly dangerous.

Medical experts have ascertained that excessive exposure to blue light can leave long-term damage to your vision, prematurely aging a person’s eyes and leading to digital eye strain, damage to your retina, macular degeneration, and an eventual loss of vision quality.

Protect your eyes

Do you suspect you’re suffering from digital eye strain? If you spend more than 3 hours on any digital device, chances are, you are already feeling the its effects – difficulty focusing or changing your visual focus from one item to another, occasional blurry vision, and a dryness to your eyes that has nothing to do with how much sleep you got the night before. You could already have started the degenerative lutein nutrient depletion without you being aware of it.

Here’s the clincher: you can now actually get glasses that are specifically designed to protect your eyes from blue light. Revolutionary new lenses are now manufactured with a unique polymer that absorbs blue light easily, preventing most of it from hitting your retina

At this point, knowledge of the apt lenses for your eyes is paramount, to ensure the optimum benefits of your prescription lens. Age and lifestyle play an integral role in the selection process – fortunately, Vision Express carries a variable of lenses right for you! Blue coat lenses crafted with UV layers are your best bet in achieving your healthiest view to date.

Shamir introduces: Shamir Relax, a revolutionary eyewear experience that is designed to alleviate eye strains from extensive device use – a perfect fit for professionals in order for them to reach optimum level of performance in a digital-first environment. Shamir Relax lenses are best paired with blue zero coating to enhance visual relaxation – exhibits proper reduction and maintenance of blue hues contributes to a healthy cognitive receipt that promotes better sleep.

Exclusively available at Vision Express, this front liner in the battle for keeping your 20/20 vision is called Shamir Blue Zero. Adaptable to any frame you may prefer, completely clear, and comfortable in any and all light conditions, they’re the perfect excuse to grab that stylish pair of glasses you’ve been eyeing as the perfect accessory but have no actual need for. Think of it as an investment in your health.

And if ever you are wearing glasses and simply prefer to have them upgraded for that added amount of protection for your eyesight, Shamir Blue Zero technology can be easily adapted to graded corrective lenses, as well.

So make that trip to the nearest Vision Express branch and inquire about safeguarding your vision to ensure that you enjoy it during the best years of your life…especially if you happen to be reading this article on your phone.

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