Have you heard of computer glasses? Lots of companies are now offering special computer glasses, but do they work? And exactly what are they supposed to do anyway?
The term doesn’t always mean the same thing, but here’s some useful information that will help you decide if computer glasses could help relieve the blurriness, discomfort and dryness caused by spending hours in front of a computer monitor.
Not every pair of glasses labeled “computer glasses” is worth considering, but many of them can help with computer eye strain and related problems.
Tints
In some cases, computer glasses have a yellow or blue tint — or perhaps some other color. This tint can range from very slight to almost as dramatic as sunglasses.
Manufacturers usually say the tint reduces UV rays, adjusts the color spectrum to make the screen easier to view for long periods or simply dims the intensity of the monitor.
Some computer glasses even have coatings that can’t be seen at all, but makers claim they still reduce the harmful effects of certain kinds and intensities of light.
Simple anti-glare coating, available from all eyeglasses manufacturers including my preferred vendor Zenni Optical, is also touted as helping improve computer eye problems.
In my experience, tinted computer glasses work well in reducing eye strain, and so does anti-glare coating. The low power reading glasses I use at home have a slight blue tint. The ones I use with my laptop on the road have Zenni Optical’s anti-glare coating and seem to work very well also.
Magnification
If you don’t have poor vision in general, one school of thought suggests that a tint alone will alleviate your eye symptoms, so magnification isn’t necessarily needed. In addition, any sort of glasses will help keep wind from fans and air vents out of your eyes, and this can reduce symptoms of dry eyes.
Another school of thought suggest that everyone — even those with perfect vision — can benefit from some magnification when they use a computer hour after hour. That seems likely to me, but unmagnified computer glasses may work fine for younger users.
Those differing opinions are why it’s important to decide whether you want your computer glasses to provide magnification. If you aren’t sure, I suggest you choose ones with at least a slight magnification. This can be +1.00 diopters or less or as much as +3.50, just like regular reading glasses.
Styling
Glasses for computer use vary greatly in styling.
Some look and work like regular prescription glasses or reading glasses. Others are designed to look cool, fancy or geeky — and may actually look more like sunglasses.
At least one company makes an insert designed to slip between you and your glasses. Many others make clip-on tinted glasses for computer use that flip up when you need to work on something else.
There’s really no benefit to one style over another. It’s simply a matter of personal taste.
Try Them And You’ll See
At first the idea of special computer glasses may seem a little strange to you. Why would they be necessary?
But if you think about it, using a computer requires focusing your eyes at an unusual distance for a long period of time — and looking at a glowing display. All those things put stress on eyes. It’s no wonder we get eye strain.
Computer glasses make sense because they prevent some of the stress that computer use puts on our eyes. I recommend them, I use them and I hope you’ll give them a try.
Isn’t it time for a little relief?