Are you secretly killing your eyes ?
Spectacles!! They have become a fashion accessory these days. They instantly lift up anybody’s look, adding structure to their faces and charisma to their style. But as we all know, they serve a greater purpose-keeping our eyes protected, and our vision bright and clear.
By all odds, every 6 out of 10 people reading this article will be spectacled.
The reason for it can be anything. But the real question is,
Are you damaging your eyes without knowing it?
The answer for the question is apparently a YES.
You are damaging your eyes.
I am talking about the glass slab you look at all day, the big flat sheet on which you watch your favourite shows and play your favourite games.
Yes, I am talking about the smartphone or laptop you’re using now, the TV you are going to watch after this, and the gaming you will do with your friends after your favourite show.
Every smart device has that screen to display information to the user and it adds a layer of interaction.
The problem is the colours have to pop, for everything to look stunning, bright and vivid.
For that, bright, ultra-high-resolution displays that produce Red Green and Blue light are required.
Blue light literally eats up your retina killing it for good.
Let’s get on with the science behind it. Blue light has a massive role to play in our health:
1. It regulates the Circadian Rhythm. That is, it helps you follow a routine of sleeping at night and waking up in the morning.
2. It keeps you energetic throughout the day.
3. It also plays a major role in keeping vision perfect during infancy.
The advantages apart, here comes the scary part :
The device has to be used keeping it close to your eyes.
(Also read : Where is evolution taking the human race?)
The blue light that it produces goes straight to the retina and kills the photo receptor cells which ensure specs-free vision. This leads to dry eyes and fatigue, damaging your eyes even more.
Some of you reading this might be wondering,
We are exposed to blue light all the time right, coming from the glowing sun over our heads. What about that?
That’s true. The exposure to it is huge, but, it is not as huge and persistent as compared to the exposure to devices.
You all will have experienced a kind of a feeling, the feeling of an increase in brightness going hard on your eyes when you suddenly shift from dim to well-lit environments.
Guess what? That also damages your eyes.
This is also experienced thanks to the indispensable device in your pockets and your living rooms too. It tears up your eyes and moreover, prolonged use will lead to more eye strain and ultimately shatter clear vision.
For the nervous ones who reached here,
Don’t worry we can protect our eyes!!!
We started it all with Spectacles, the fad that never dies.
If you choose the right pair of well-made glasses, it can protect your eyes not only from your phone’s screen but also from sun.
If you don’t like the perks of having glasses or the smudges that you need to clean every time, you can use anti-glare coatings on the displays.
The other way to keep your vision a perfect 6/6 is to use appropriate software.
Most smart devices today have some kind of blue light filter bundled with them.
For your smartphones, if you are using android (v 7.0 and above), you can use the in-built night mode. If you are the not so lucky ones using Nougat, use can still download apps such as Twilight or hundreds of others on the play store.
If you use an iPhone, you can use in-built Night-Shift, same for Mac as well.
If you use Windows 10, you can toggle the feature Night Light which can turn on automatically depending on when you are using your PC. If you run Windows 7 or Linux you can check out the application F.lux.
Now to protect yourself from the eye-watering brightness of your displays…
If your smartphones support it, put your display on auto-brightness and stay away from tweaking it. The most important step you can take is to put on dark mode on all UI elements of the software. Be sure not to pop your eyeballs with the awesome light mode.
For people who want to protect their eyes from the sun, try wearing sunglasses which can reflect harmful rays that the sun lovingly sends.
Well, I think I have done my part and now its your turn to start protecting your eyes. Keep your vision perfect and clear. Because, you never realise the value of something important unless you lose it, like eyesight.
