4 Reasons to Schedule Routine Eye Exams After 40
You know you should schedule your annual physical every year, but don’t forget about scheduling routine eye exams, especially after age 40. That’s when vision changes begin to occur.
If you’re like the average adult, you spend at least six hours a day staring at one type of digital screen or another. If you’re a teen, it’s probably more.
You may have heard that staring down at smartphones and tablets can cause issues such as “tech neck” and pain. But all that time spent scrolling also negatively impacts your eye health by overexposing your eyes to blue light.
At Wolchok Eye Associates, our expert ophthalmologists want your eyes to stay healthy for life. That’s why he recommends blue-blocking glasses for computer and screen time, and sunglasses with blue-blocking capabilities while outdoors.
The sun contains all colors of light, including red, orange, green, and blue. Each color emits different energy levels. Red light has long wavelengths but less energy. On the other end of the spectrum, blue light has short wavelengths and more energy.
In the past, people got most of their exposure to blue light from the sun when outside. However, we are now getting more exposure than ever when we’re inside — from our screens. This excessive exposure to blue light worries eye doctors.
Today’s work life revolves around looking at a screen for multiple hours every day. And then there’s time spent on social media or watching shows.
Consider wearing blue-light protection, whether you need prescription lenses or not. Here are five reasons why wearing blue-light-blocking glasses may help you.
A walk outside in the blue light of sunlight helps you feel alert. But so does spending time on a screen before bed. Short wavelengths delay the release of melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone that naturally starts flowing into your system a couple of hours before bedtime.
If you use a tablet or other type of screen before bed, you may find it difficult to fall asleep right away. If you’re unable to turn off your device an hour or two before bed, as sleep experts recommend, using blue-light-blocking glasses after sundown may help you sleep better.
Staring at screens all day stresses your eye muscles. Just as ergonomic chairs reduce muscle strain from sitting at a desk all day, blue-light-blocking glasses reduce eye strain from looking at a screen.
Blue light actually makes it difficult to focus on the screen. That means your eyes must strain to concentrate. Blue-light-blocking glasses help increase screen contrast, making it easier to focus and reducing eye strain.
Any kind of light — but particularly blue light — can trigger migraines. Light also exacerbates headache pain. Blocking blue light with special glasses may reduce migraine attacks, headaches, and headache pain.
Luckily, your cornea and eye lens do a good job of blocking the sun’s harmful ultraviolet light from reaching the retina. However, they can’t block blue light. Damage to the retina can increase your risk of developing macular degeneration, which is a leading cause of blindness.
Blue light penetrates your retina. Overexposure may lead to macular-degeneration-like symptoms and may increase your risk of developing cataracts. Wearing protective lenses helps prevent this.
In addition to wearing blue-light blockers, you can cut down on the amount of blue light your eyes are exposed to by:
Are you ready to protect your eyes and health with blue-blocking glasses? Call our Jacksonville, Florida, office today at 904-739-0606 or request an appointment online.
