How much time do you spend looking at screens? Considering I work mostly online, not including the time I spend just playing around, I spend at least 6 hours a day on my computer alone. That doesn’t count every time I look at my phone, either. I feel like I look at my phone at least once an hour now, which I’m aware is totally absurd.
You’ve probably heard about blue light, which mimics every day light and comes from electronic screens. You’ve probably read somewhere that looking at your phone/computer/TV, or even having the lights on too close to bedtime, can affect your circadian rhythms. This means your sleep is interrupted and you won’t feel as tired.
Okay, fine, you’ve probably thought, knowing that your sleep is important to your health, but maybe if you get around 6-8 hours it’s not that bad.
Well, as it turns out, blue light is worse than we think. According to an article by Harvard, and a new study published in Nature, blue light can cause macular degeneration.
“Using live cell imaging and optogenetic signaling control, we uncovered that blue light-excited ATR and 11CR irreversibly change/distort plasma membrane (PM) bound phospholipid; phosphatidylinositol 4,5 bisphosphate (PIP2) and disrupt its function. This distortion in PIP2 was independent of visual or non-visual G-protein coupled receptor activation. The change in PIP2 was followed by an increase in the cytosolic calcium, excessive cell shape change, and cell death” (Ratnayake, Payton, Lakmal, and Karunarathne. Scientific Reports volume 8, Article number: 10207 (2018)).
In case you’re unaware, macular degeneration, in layman’s terms, is permanent eye damage that can lead to blindness. From how much I spend in front of screens, I already know my eyesight has already been affected. I’ve already seen floaters and assumed that maybe floaters were just a normal result of aging. NOPE (maybe that’s true, but not in this case).
This news was particularly alarming for me, a former film student, who used to spend 8+ hours in the editing labs overnight, staring at Macs until 4am. It’s particularly alarming for me, someone who stares at my computer writing articles like these, after writing hundreds of these articles, painstakingly checking links and designing layouts, etc. if your job requires that you be in front of a screen (secretary, designer, computer engineer, literally anything because it’s 2018), you need to take action and you should take action now.
Eyes PC
Fiara
RetinaGuard
RoscoLux (but this is a lighting gel company, so idk)
Getting used to an orange-y screen may be annoying, but it’s worth it to save your eyes. Have you used a blue-light filter? Do you have glasses or screen covers? Let me know in the comments below.
Follow The Barefoot Aya on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Have any personal questions related to the content on this blog? Contribute to ‘Ask Aya,’ our new advice column! Here, we will post responses for every reader to benefit and it is totally anonymous!
Some of the links in this post are affiliated links and The Barefoot Aya may receive a percentage of the item purchased. This does not mean that any company supports The Barefoot Aya nor does it mean that I do not fully recommend these products. I would never link to a product unless I fully recommend it.
Photo Credit: Maja Topcajic
Thank you, really interesting article. I use my laptop about 6 hours a day and have noticed the floaters, having said that I’m at least double your age. I struggle sometimes getting to sleep as I always check wordpress/instagram etc. just before going to bed, downloaded f.lux, be good to see if it makes a difference.
Good luck! Those studies freaked me out and I set up automatic timers on my devices IMMEDIATELY. My friend Kelly says her 70yo mom has worked on a computer every day of her working life and her eyesight is better than Kelly’s… so there’s hope!(?)