What is blue light and how can I protect my eyes from digital eye strain?
We speak to an optometrist on the truth about blue light. Blue light is one of the spectrum of colours and while natural blue light comes from the sun, artificial blue light comes from our digital devices and lights like LED. Scientists have been researching the effects of blue light for almost 50 years and the most recent evidence is that only extreme and sustained exposure to blue light may cause damage to your eyes. Lots of claims have been made about the benets of blue light lters and blocking lenses. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO) in recent years have released a position statement on blue light blockers stating that there is no evidence to suggest that normal environmental exposure to blue light, including from digital screen technology, causes damage to eyesight and, filtering out the blue light from screens is not necessary in general use. Sign up to our bodyandsoul.com.au newsletter for more stories like this. So, in the case of screen time and eye health, the best way to look after your eyes to simply remember to take regular breaks from the screen to lessen digital eye strain. The top 5 handy tips I give my patients to avoid digital eye strain at work are:  #1 Remember to blink! This keeps the surface of your eyes from drying out. You might even want to put a sticky note on your computer screen reminding you to blink often. #2 Drink lots of water  Your eyes also dry out when youre dehydrated so keep your fluids up. #3 Follow the 20-20-20 rule  This means, every 20 minutes shift your eyes to look at an object at least 20 metres away, for at least 20 seconds. The easiest way to do this is to look out of your window at an object far away. #4 Screen adjustments  Adjust brightness and contrast on your screen to match the level of light around you. Try increasing the contrast on your screen to reduce eye strain. #5 Consider your position  Adjust your position at the computer. When using a computer, you should be sitting so closer than 60cm (about at arm's length) from the screen. Position the screen so your eyes gaze slightly downward, not straight ahead or up. Greeshma Patel is an Optometrist at Specsavers.