Do Blue Light Glasses Work? A Writer's Perspective

I took the plunge two weeks ago and purchased my first pair of blue light blocking glasses on Amazon for $20. The Cyxus blue light glasses had the highest reviews on Amazon, but there was a large disparity between reviews. Either they were life-changing, or ineffective at best. Blue light glasses are all the buzz right now, but I’ve always asked, “Do they really work?” In order to answer this question for myself, I committed to wearing blue light glasses over the course of one week at work and at home.

About the Glasses

I have no issues with the construction of the Cyxus glasses. The glasses are thick plastic and feel very durable. I don’t think these would break easily with normal wear. Now if you sat on them, or smashed them with something, they would definitely break. I also like the style of the glasses and the case they come with. The shape of the glasses is unisex and has a “hipster” look to them. Since they are unisex, they are a bit large looking on my face, but nothing unmanageable. The complimentary case is a soft faux leather with button closure. 

Overall I am pleased with the quality of these glasses, but I do want to say these glasses do get dirty very easily. I don’t know if it is the lenses, but I am constantly having to clean the glasses with a cloth. It can be annoying because it is way more than I ever have to clean my own glasses.

Do the Blue Light Glasses Work?

The main reason I purchased the blue light glasses was to help with my eye fatigue at work. My job involves me staring at a screen eight hours of the day. When I’m not staring at a computer screen, I’m looking at my phone, or an iPad. Needless to say, my eyes were getting tired and dry. I wear contacts (I also have an astigmatism) and when my eyes get dry, my contacts grow painful. Since I do wear contacts on a daily basis, I’m not sure if having the corrective lenses affected the blue glasses ability to work.

Even though I bought the glasses for work, I found the blue light glasses useless for work. When I put the glasses on, I could automatically feel a tension in my eye like I wasn’t seeing something quite right. I would also get a small headache when looking through the glasses. This made the glasses virtually impossible for me to wear at work because it made things worse. I’m not sure if it is the type of monitors I have, or the fact that I’m looking between two monitors constantly affected the glasses. Either way, these glasses at work were a no go. 

The glasses did work for my home laptop. I didn’t feel tension or have a headache when wearing the glasses and looking at my own computer. I’m not sure if it helps the glasses that I’m looking at only one monitor, or if my monitor has more blue light that needs blocking. I can’t comment if the blue light glasses helped me sleep because I don’t have trouble falling asleep when looking at devices before bed. But I can say that my eyes didn’t get tired as quickly when doing blog work like they normally do after a long office day.

Final Verdict

I honestly can’t make a wholehearted recommendation for these glasses. I’m not mad at the investment I made for self as part of my self-care routine, but I can’t say they improved my quality of life dramatically. I can’t use them for work where I need the most support form the glasses, but I enjoy them for night computer work. I do plan on keeping them in my routine for nighttime use, but I’m not shouting from the rooftops for you to go buy them. $20 isn’t that bad of a gamble though if you struggle with eye strain.

Have you ever tried blue light glasses? Do you plan on investing in a pair? Let me know in the comments below!