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Computers emit strong rays of blue light that can be damaging to your eyes. Using a device with a screen for multiple hours a day can strain and even harm your eyes. You can protect yourself by investing in tinted, adaptable lenses designed to protect your vision while you use the computer. Here’s what you should know about computer glasses.

Understanding Computer Glasses

Computer glasses are either prescription or non-prescription glasses you can wear when doing computer work. The lenses can help clarify your vision and protect your eyes from blue light when working on a screen. They contain an anti-reflective coating that reduces computer glare, protecting your eyes from irritation and fatigue. Some also have a special tint that can help correct colors for people with vision problems.

Computer glasses fall into various categories—single-vision, bifocal, trifocal, and progressive. Single-vision computer lenses offer optical correction for the distance between your eyes and your computer’s screen. These glasses can help you view your entire computer screen without moving your head up and down, reducing strains on your eyes, neck, and shoulders.

Bifocal glasses can be ideal for people who need both near and intermediate-range vision correction. The upper section of these glasses provides optical correction for the screen distance (distance between a computer screen and your eyes), and the lower section allows you to view objects in near vision. A line across the lens separates the two sections.

Trifocal computer lenses have three segments that offer optical correction for the screen distance, objects beyond the screen distance, and objects in near vision. They can allow you to focus on your computer and everything else around you with slight head movements.

Progressive glasses combine near vision, mid-range vision (computer screen distance), and far vision. They improve eyesight at all distances, and you may not need to make significant head movements when shifting your focus from your screen to other objects.

Why Do You Need Computer Glasses?

You can suffer from digital eye strain following prolonged computer use as it exposes your eyes to screen glare. Since people blink fewer times when using computers than when reading print materials, their eyes may not get the moisture they need to stay healthy.

While you may not realize it immediately, digital eye strain can affect your overall vision. You may experience eye fatigue, itching, redness, tearing, blurred vision, double vision, and headaches. Some people also experience neck and shoulder pain from viewing computers from the wrong angles.

Computer glasses contain special lenses that can reduce the eyes’ accommodative strain by shifting focus from far to mid-range and near vision. This can eliminate the need to get too close to your computer screen and reduce the risk of developing uncomfortable postures that cause neck and shoulder pain.

The glasses’ glare reduction or blue light blocking capabilities can reduce strains on the eyes and lower the risk of blurred vision, eye fatigue, and dryness. Blue light glasses can also improve your sleep since they block blue light emitting from your computer, allowing your body to produce sleep-inducing melatonin.

Do You Need a Prescription for Computer Glasses?

While you don’t need to have a prescription to buy glasses designed for computer use, it’d be best to have your eyes examined by a professional before purchasing them. Your eye doctor will help determine if you need corrective lenses. If you do, you may need to buy bifocal, trifocal, or progressive lenses. Single vision glasses can be enough if you don’t need corrective lenses.

Do Computer Glasses’ Lens Materials Matter?

Since your glasses might fall off accidentally, you need to select shatter and anti-scratch material for their lenses. Such materials reduce the risk of damage, saving you the costs of repairing or buying new glasses.

Polycarbonate, a strong and lightweight plastic, is one of the best lens materials as it’s impact-resistant and thin enough to give your glasses a seamless look. Some sellers apply an anti-scratch resistance coating to the polycarbonate to increase their glasses’ durability.

Invest in Computer Glasses

Computer glasses can protect you from computer vision strain by improving your screen’s clarity and blocking its blue light glare. They can also help improve your sleep quality and allow you to maintain a proper posture when using your device. You can choose between single-vision, bifocal, trifocal, and progressive glasses, depending on your need for corrective vision. Protect your eyes in the digital age by investing in quality computer glasses.