Blue Light is Leading to Blindness: How Can You Prevent It

Glued to the screen and spending hours simply doing “nothing”. This is the picture and story of the people these days. If you keep a note of your chats, you will find that most of the answers to “What’s up?” are “NM” or “nothing much”. So, what is this “nothing” cost? Your eyesight. Yes, that’s true. You might lose your eyesight due to the harmful blue rays that are emitting from your smartphone.

Not just smartphones, but laptops, tablets, and even lights are emitting blue light that is extremely harmful to your eyes. Technology has arrived in our lives as a boon and our living spaces are getting modern and easy with automation, entertainment, and smart devices. Technology seems to get “smart” and people are taking the exact opposite of “smart” and ruining the health for technical dependencies.

What is this blue light?

Light usually has three spectrums namely: ultraviolet, visible and infrared rays. Blue light is a part of this visible ray that has got the highest wavelength. Experts say that not all of it is bad. A considerable amount of blue light is present in the sun rays and doctors are prescribing a dedicated sun time for some patients. This blue light is essential for people who are facing psychological issues. It helps in memory by allowing the mind to stay alert. The mood of the individual is elevated due to blue light.

So, it can be said that natural blue light is good and the artificial one is the problem makers. When the blue light comes out from an electronic device, the harm is caused to eyes. The LED bulbs and CFL bulbs are some of the daily products that are hard to avoid. The retina in our eyes has photoreceptor which is very much sensitive to light. Blue light effects the areas causing blindness.

How blue light travels

We all are aware of the ultra-violet rays of the sun that causes harm to the skin and eyes. Ultraviolet rays reach the front portion of the eye and are the main reason behind the cataract. As per experts, the blue light is more dangerous to the eyes than the ultraviolet rays. There is a serious lack of awareness as per experts. From the very early age students are taught about ultraviolet rays and thus everybody is aware. It is time to share the same awareness and spread the word about blue rays. Blue rays have a greater wavelength and can even reach the back portion of the eye. Continuous exposure of blue light over the eye thus causes retinal damage. The most common eye problem due to blue light is ARMD (age-related macular degeneration) where the patient sees a black spot while viewing. This black spot grows overtime leading to complete blindness.

The damage is caused beyond the eyes

Due to the blue rays, the hormone secretion is subdued and the heart rate of the individual increases. Doctors say that many patients report that they are unable to sleep at night and they spend the long hours of the night watching movies or simply scrolling through the social media. The expert comments in this say the digital devices are the reason of this sleeplessness. The blue rays affect your eyes and that causes sleep deprivation. There have been experiments in which it is found that due to the blue ray the temperature of the body is increased and the body is unable to calm down. Due to heart rates racing there is always alertness and the people are unable to camp their mind that will induce sleep.

How to prevent it

For daily work, certain devices and lights are essential. So quitting them all together to avoid the blue light is definitely not possible. So what is the solution? Experts say that solution is limiting the exposure. The awareness is necessary in this case. When you know that this is not good for your eyes, you will limit its usage. There are many apps and devices are designed in a way that will help you in preventing the damage to some extent. The smartphone these days have got a blue light filter that provides a filter on the screen and you will find the screen turns into a sepia tone. This must be turned on if you are using the phone for a long time.

Doctors prescribe that you should not use the mobile or laptop two hours before your bedtime. This will help your eyes to relax and you will be able to sleep well without any distractions. If that is not possible, make sure you keep the phone away from your bed or at a distance when you go to bed. Do not use the phone when you are fidgeting over the bed trying to sleep. Remember you are wanting to sleep and not wanting to get distracted from it. You can try reading a book or listening to music before bedtime instead. You can always switch off the internet that will stop those notifications that pushes you to check your mobile again and again.

Keeping the phone away has advantages of waking up also. When the alarm turns on in the morning, you have to get up to switch it off. When you get out of the bed to reach there, you will wake up easily rather than those continuous snoozing that takes an hour sometimes before you actually get up. While you sleep at night, make sure you have a red night light as it is found to have positive results and helps you in sleeping. Not just at night, limit the use of phone if possible. These days, it is a difficult thing to do so. But in that case, you might lower the brightness. There’s another simple thing that can be followed and that is 20-20-20 rule. While you are using any of the digital devices, take a break of 20 seconds every 20 minutes to see an object that is 20 feet away from you.