In this thread, as it was recently brought up elsewhere, I would like to discuss healthy sleep patterns and needs.
There are a lot of different ways people can contribute, but I thought that since I am an optician, I would share a vitally important piece of information regarding over-exposure to "blue light".
Blue light is part of the spectrum of white light, the "blue, indigo, and violet", of the rainbow.
It is natural, and important for everyday health and wellness. It's what makes the sky blue, generally speaking.
But a problem exists. All pieces of light based technology, from overhead lights, lamps, tv screen, cell-phones, laptop screens, ipads and the like, and etc., all of these things also emit "blue light".
The short version is over-exposure to blue light, especially from technology-based blue light, when it enters the eyes and gets to the optic nerves inside of the eyes, affects a certain type of gangelions that are directly related to the brain's ability to naturally produce melatonin, the famous "sleep" chemical so many have heard of. When this occurs, a person's circadian rhythm, what governs normal sleep patterns and cycles, is negatively affected.
It leads to the following symptoms and issues:
1.) Eye strain and fatigue
You work on a computer all day? You know what I mean. Your eyes can only take such much before they wear out. It's because of the blue light.
2.) Headaches
Eye strain and fatigue, if not readily dealt with upon occurrence, usually lead to headaches. Not necessarily migraine level, but migraines cannot be fully ruled out.
3.) Insomnia.
Lack of melatonin and interrupted circadian rhythm keeps people from falling asleep.
4.) Interrupted sleep.
Blue light not only causes insomnia, but it also ruins the sleep you do get. A lot of starts and stops, so to speak, with not a lot of good in between.
5.) Lack of deep, restful (REM) sleep
REM sleep is the period of time during sleep when you enter into Rapid Eye Movement, and is often thought of as the dreaming stage (it's more complicated than that, however). This is the time in which the brain really recharges itself. Loss of REM sleep means loss of recharge, means less brain power for the next day. Snowball effect.
6.) Waking up early
Even if one gets past the insomnia, the starts and stops, and even if they enter REM sleep for awhile, blue light, by affecting a person's circadian rhythm, can cause a person to wake much sooner over-all, with an inability to get back to sleep.
7.) Possibly contribute to issues like Macular Degeneration
The jury's still out. More and more studies are being done. Some are already convinced there is a link. Most are not so sure, yet.
What can be done about all of the above:
A.) Get rid of all blue light producing technology
Not really, but maybe you should???
B.) Limit blue light producing technology, especially about 2-4 hours before sleep
Once your brain's ability to produce melatonin has been tampered with, it needs several hours to get back on track. If you know you are going to bed at 11pm, you might want to turn off and not make use of your tv, computer, laptop, ipad, cell-phone, and etc. once 7pm rolls around.
C.) If you wear prescription glasses, you can purchase a feature called blue light protection.
This is where my job comes in. Blue light protection is sometimes very pricey, depending on where you go, what insurance coverage you have, and etc. But it's also very much worth it. I work in a Walmart Vision Center. At least where I live here in WI, we pretty much beat anyone's prices, so perhaps consider a local Walmart if $$$ is an issue.
If you don't wear or need prescription glasses, you can find special blue light protection only glasses that don't have a prescription in them, that you can wear when you know you will be spending long periods of time on a PC, or etc.
If you are interested in getting glasses with blue light protection, or would like to discuss options, visit with an optician at your local eye doctor. You probably won't need an appointment for a little Q and A time.
On a side note:
I got a new prescription last fall and with a new pair of glasses with blue light protection, and wow, what a difference!
Whereas prior to owning them, I used to wind down and go to bed when my eyes would start to strain and fatigue after being on the computer for a few hours. I'm a night owl since childhood, and mostly a 3rd shift worker my adult life, so, even though I no longer work 3rd shift, I'm still too programmed to the hours, and me going to bed before 3 or 4 in the morning is rare.
But, when I got the new glasses, with the blue light protection, my eyes didn't strain or fatigue like they used to, so, without realizing it, I was staying up a lot later than even 3 or 4 in the morning, and still not feeling tired.
It caused me some issues at first, until my brain became acclimated to not needing to be lured into sleep by eye strain and fatigue. So now, since all of that is past, I can pretty much shut down the PC, and go right to bed, with maybe only about a ten minute break to get ready for bed and a couple minutes of relaxing in bed before lights out.
These new glasses were definitely worth the price. Insurance covered most, but I still needed to pay $75 out of pocket (I also got HD lenses with a no-glare coating package, single vision).
One nice thing about Walmart is prices for children's glasses are super low. Anyone under the age of 18 qualifies for "youth" level glasses at Walmart. Single Vision, Polycarbonate lenses with no-glare coating and blue light protection are $79, not including price of frame. Youth frames begin at $9. And if you have decent insurance, most of that cost might be deferred from you to your plan.
So, if you have children who are being exposed to excessive technology produced blue light, you might consider getting them some glasses with blue light protection, whether from Walmart or wherever you go for your eye care needs.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/stayi...as-a-dark-side
https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...bad-for-sleep/
https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-to...cts-kids-sleep
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4734149/
votivesoul 
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