Quand des clients viennent rencontrer nos opticiens et se renseignent au sujet de nos options pour la lumière bleue, ils sont souvent surpris par notre réponse: vous pourriez garder votre argent. En effet, au Bonhomme à lunettes nous avons décidé de vous partager notre point de vue sur les verres filtrant la lumière bleue en toute transparence.
What is blue light exactly?
Basically, blue light is a kind of light that the many screens in our lives emit. By the way, it's also the same kind of light you would see outside on a sunny day. According to certain studies, exposure to blue light can cause insomnia, headaches. It has also been linked to increased anxiety, depression, ADHD symptoms, and obesity. Yet, the blue light emitted by the sun, which is the most powerful emitter of blue light, seems to help solve a lot of these problems. Weird, isn't it?
Why don't you recommend the protection options?
Simply because there's a free, healthier solution: reducing screen time and spending more time outside.
Les problèmes liés à la lumière bleue proviennent donc avant tout du temps passé devant des écrans. On le sait, diminuer le temps devant les écrans n’est pas facile. Il y a l’ordinateur pour le travail, l’ordinateur personnel, le téléphone mobile, la tablette, la console de jeux vidéo, etc. Faire la gestion de tout ça est loin d’être évident, ni pour soi ni pour les enfants. On salue d’ailleurs les parents pour qui la gestion du temps d’écran s’apparente à une guerre d’attrition.
But setting reasonable limits can only do some good. Sure, systems like Android or IOS offer options to reduce the blue light emitted by the screen. That’s great, if it helps you, but the scientific community has not reached a consensus yet about the effects. There is this thing called the placebo effect.
The real solution is super simple, and you’ve heard it before: spent time outside! It’s great for your overall health, but it’s also great for your eyes. It is also a great opportunity to leave your mobile phone in your pocket or, even better, at home.
Wouldn't blue-light glasses help too?
Once again, the scientific literature is far from unanimous. As far as we're concerned, it's mainly a "marketing" solution that increases the average price of glasses without delivering the expected results. And we're not the only ones to see it that way. Le Pharmachien looked into this in an episode that aired in December 2021. It is available on Tou.tv, but a subscription is needed. It's unfortunate, because it showed how complicated this problem is and that you can't simply solve it with your bank card. Moreover, as you will see in this article published in 2018, even the American Academy of Ophtalmology is not big on the idea of blue light filters. So why spend more on something that's far from being proven without a shadow of a doubt?
But What If I Want a Blue Light Filter Anyway?
If despite all this you absolutely we certainly won’t prevent you from getting it. The decision is yours. And since we do business with the same lens labs as the big-name stores, we’ll get you similar options at the best price. As usual
Our advice, however, is this: save your money for something else and rethink your screen habits!