Computer Glasses Can Minimize Eye Strain

Protect Your Eyes from Harmful Rays with Computer Glasses

Staring at Screens All Day Can Cause Headaches and Eye Strain;
Wearing Computer Glasses Can Alleviate This

Computers have changed a lot over the last few decades.  We went from green screens, to color VGA, and now, we have 4k capable monitors.  And although the visuals improved, one aspect of computing continues to plague us, and that is the issue of eye strain.

Back in the late 80s, I spent a lot of my day staring into computer monitors.  I began having terrible headaches on a daily basis, and I was convinced it was related to my screen time.  A colleague, who was having similar issues,  and I both sought medical help around the same time. Both of us were referred to an Optometrist, and both of us were prescribed reading glasses with a special coating.

Different optometrists told us that the act of focusing on a screen was tiring our eyes.  As our eyes tired, they lost their ability to adjust focus from closer to farther things.  In theory, reading glasses could help prevent this. They would help our pupils learn to better adapt, sort of like exercise for our eyes.  The special coating would reduce glare, helping to protect our eyes from further damage.  We both started wearing our glasses while focusing on a monitor, and we both experienced substantial relief from eye strain and the associated headaches.

Somewhere over the decades, I stopped wearing my computer glasses.  We were told monitors improved to the point emissions and glare were no longer threats.  We began working on larger monitors with better screen resolutions, which made things easier to see. We learned to bump up text size when our eyes were feeling strained.  But then came the Cell Phone Revolution. Along with it came the tendency to make screens smaller and more portable.  We began trading our desktop PCs for laptops.  And a lot of us started experiencing the eye strain of the past again. Only we didn't realize it.


Additionally, studies started emerging warning us of the dangers of too much screen time.  We discovered screens emit light spectra that interfere with our natural circadian rhythms. Not only was all of this screen time straining our eyes, but it was also interfering with our sleep.  Computer glasses were becoming a thing again, but most were more expensive than prescription lenses.  So most of us just lived with our eye strain and learned to adapt.

During the beginning of 2018, I found myself suffering headaches on a daily basis, usually starting after I'd been working for a couple of hours.  The only thing that gave me any type of relief was getting out of the house and away from any type of screens.  I started sleep tracking again, and the data showed my sleep was terribly disrupted as well. My aging eyes cause me to need reading glasses for newspapers and menus.  I decided it was time to investigate computer glasses again.

Most of the glasses I was finding started in the $80 range, and quite frankly, I was not willing to invest that much money until I was sure the computer glasses were going to be helpful.  That is when I stumbled across the LifeArt Brand.  LifeArt has many types of computer glasses, most in the $20 range.

I have had these glasses for about three months now.  I can most definitely say my daily headaches have gone away. I am also sleeping better.  At first, I had to remember to wear the glasses while computing. Now, I can feel the eye strain coming on if I am NOT wearing them.  I work primarily on a gaming laptop with a 17" screen.  Still, I chose to buy computer glasses with magnification, remembering what the optometrist said all those years ago.    I wish I had invested in a pair of computer glasses way before I did.

These glasses have several benefits:

• Blue Light Blocking: The lenses block the light in the blue spectrum, the frequency that supposedly interferes with our natural circadian rhythms.  These frequencies also cause eye damage and eye strain.
• UV Protection: Protects your eyes from damaging ultraviolet light frequencies.
• Anti-Glare Coating: Again, anti-glare coatings reduce eye strain.
• Anti-Reflective Coating: Reduces the impact of room lights reflecting off your lenses or screen.

So the glasses filter glare, radiation, and harmful light frequencies. They reduce eye strain and allow you to work on screens for longer periods of time with fewer adverse effects.  Additionally, this brand offers different degrees of magnification, from zero magnification on up.  Although I usually wear 1.5 magnification for reading glasses, I ordered 1.0 magnification for my computer glasses.  That offers me just the right amount of magnification on my larger screen size.  I am thinking of ordering a second pair to use when working on my smaller, 10" convertible machine, with a higher magnification level.

The ad below links you to the pair of glasses I ordered. (NOTE: Techlaurels will receive a few pennies if you click through our affiliate link.) You may need to disable your ad-blocker to see the ad.

This is the pair of glasses I have; they are available in a variety of different frame styles and magnification strengths.

Buying a pair of computer glasses has been life-changing for me.  I am sleeping better, and I have an all around better attitude now that I am not constantly battling headaches.  I am now recommending that anyone who works long hours in front of a screen consider wearing a pair.  If you work on smaller screens, and/or if you suffer from aging eyes, I recommend considering a pair of computer glasses with magnification.   Since the screen is generally a little farther away than a book, you may want to consider buying your computer glasses one magnification level weaker than your reading glasses.

At the bottom of this article, I've linked to over a dozen different styles of computer glasses for sale at Amazon.  As I said earlier, I like the LifeArt brand of glasses, and so I have linked to those. (If you cannot see the ad, try disabling your ad-blocker.)  There are other inexpensive brands available, but as I have not tried those brands, I cannot vouch for their quality or efficiency.  And of course, Gunnar Optiks makes the best known brand of computer glasses.  Gunnar Glasses are favored by gaming geeks across the globe. But you will pay dearly for the brand name. 

Brand is not as important as the characteristics of the glasses. You want glasses that block UV light, light in the blue-violet spectrum, as well as glare and radiation. And you may also want to consider computer glasses that offer magnification.

Have you tried wearing computer glasses? Do you suffer from eye strain and/or headaches after working on screens for a while?  Do you have a particular brand of computer glasses you favor? Let us know in the comment section. We'd love to hear about your experience with the different brands of computer glasses.  And if you do try a pair out for yourself, we'd love to hear if it helped mitigate your own screen issues.




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