Do You Need Computer Glasses?

The need for glasses used to be pretty straightforward. If you couldn’t see stuff clearly, whether at distance or up close, you went to your eye doctor to get your prescription and then you purchased a pair of eyeglasses or contact lenses.

Enter the ubiquitous computer screen. Even if you’re not a content writer spending six hours a day looking at your computer screen, odds are you’re still looking at your pixels for hours a day if you’re a desk jockey. That’s been especially true for this last year of COVID madness where Zoom meetings on computer have replaced the face-to-face variety. At the end of a day, your eyes can feel as if they’ve been pulled from your sockets and scrubbed with sandpaper. Your eyes feel tired, and you may have corresponding back and neck pain.

You may have heard that computer glasses are the solution. This would be a pair of glasses to be worn strictly when working at your computer.

Do you need a pair? In this springy April blog, let’s get into this for our Eye Clinic patients out there.

Why they may be a good idea

According to the Vision Council, 59 percent of adults in the U.S. reported having some kind of digital eye strain (strained, dry, or red eyes; blurred vision; headaches; back pain; neck pain; or general fatigue) as a result of using digital devices for hours at a time.

How computer glasses work

Computer glasses are special-purpose eyeglasses meant to optimize your eyesight when you’re looking at digital screens. They’re designed to: reduce glare (a major cause of eyestrain), increase contrast and maximize what you see through the lenses. This makes it easier to look at your screens for longer periods of time.

Computer glasses will have two main features:

  • Anti-reflective (AR) coating — Anti-reflective coatings reduce glare bouncing off screens and from light sources. Newer coatings are better than older generations. They keep the lenses cleaner, and they don’t scratch easily.
  • Color tints — Some computer glasses have a tint, usually yellow. This increases the contrast on the screen and filters out the uncomfortable/harsh light spectrums so your eye muscles can relax.

Is this about blue light?

You’ve been hearing a lot about the blue light from your screens, but that’s not what this is about. While blue light can supposedly mess with your sleep, it isn’t damaging your eyes. There is no evidence that blue light causes damage to your sight, although there are plenty of purveyors out there ready to sell you blue light-filtering glasses. Not necessary; just don’t use your phone before going to bed. Simple.

This is an individual thing. If you spend hours every day looking at a computer screen or a tablet screen, a separate pair of computer eyeglasses could be very helpful. If at day’s end your eyes feel fried, it’s something you may want to look into.

If you’re interested in possibly getting computer glasses, give us a call at The Eye Clinic, (503) 297-4718. We’ll check your eyes, talk to you about your daily workplace computer work, and see what’s right for you.

Posted in: Eye Care, Optical Shop

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