Blue Light and Gaming.

As a gamer, Blogger and an avid TV watcher, I spend a lot of time in front of a screen, whether it's a tv screen or a monitor both tend to give me headaches. I try and make sure I have a set amount of time when I play games or sitting in front of a TV in order to help my headaches but sometimes that just isn't enough to help your and often the cause of these headaches for me will be because of eyestrain from looking at blue light. What is blue light? Well it's a colour that is part of the visible light spectrum seen by the human eye but can be dangerous so to put this into prespective light is made up of these things callled electromagnetic particles which travel in waves, these are waves are what emit energy and each have a range of strength and length, the shorter one of these wavelengths are the higher in energy, blue light has a short wave length which means that produces a higher amount of energy and the more exposore you have to blue light the more at risk you are to damage to your eyes.

We all know how important our eyesight is to us and I often take it for granted but there are ways in which we can protect ourselves from blue light and minimise how much we look at it, think of how long and how often we use our mobile phones, right now I'm actually typing this post up on my mobile and will be finishing it off whilst sat in front of a computer. I don't tend to spend as much time on a computer as I do on my phone but it doesn't stop blue light affecting aspects of my life especially as I have a chronic illness that makes me fatigued all the time, spending too much time in front of blue light doesn't help my condition at all but I have hobbies which require spending time looking at blue light.

I personally use an app now which I put a timer on for how long I want a break from my phone and I can't use it until that timer is up which is one great way to stop yourself looking at your phone for hours on end, another great way is using *blue light filters which you can get from Ocushield, not only do they sell filters but they sell anti light glasses/clip on glasses protecters and anti blue light lamps which all help reduce the blue light being emitted from decvices you use. As a child I always wondered what my parents meant about sitting oo close to the TV now I do understand the dangers and I think more children should, especially now that VR glasses have become so very popular, think of how much time people will have the glasses so close to their eyes and what kind of damage it could cause. I have put together some tips of my own to help reduce Blue light in your life:

1. As hard as this sounds try to limit how much screen time you have, I understand how difficult it can be as everything is online these days and people don't like to miss out on things but even if it's a few hours before bed try to wind down doing something that doesn't involve a digital device such as reading, crafting, catching up on how each others day was or even playing with your pet.

2. If you have to sit in front of a screen don't sit too close to it, the closer you are the more blue light is getting to your eyes, make sure you sit an arms length away from the screen, I have a desk that puts my screen at eye level of me and makes it so my screen is arms length away thanks to the length of the desk.

3. You can download blue filter apps for your phones which help a lot, most of these are free but make sure you always check the reviews on these apps. A lot of the time it can say 5 stars but people are forced to give them that. my recommendations for android users would be the eye filter app by Diaohs but if you have a Samsung like me there is an option in settings - display to turn on the blue light filter which you can use instead of an app.

4. As far as I know, PS4 doesn't have any blue light filter settings but you can get gaming glasses which filter the blue light coming from the screen, these glasses can also be used for watching tv/ pc/ on your phone or tablet and can be a much-welcomed part of life to protect your eyes. You may think people look silly wearing them but just remember they are taking responsibility to aid their eyesight and help it last longer.

5. BLINK, this sounds ridiculous but staring at the blue light is going to do you no favours, the longer you stare at that light the more chance you have of damaging your eyesight. Try to come away from the screen every 20 minutes and focus on something other than a screen especially if you're in the middle of a raid, breaks a very important for your own wellbeing.

6. There are filters you can buy that help reduce blue light and help you so you don't prevent a condition known as CVS (computer vision syndrome), it can cause some nasty effects such as burning eyes, headaches and even fatigue and with symptoms such as them you won't be able to get much done. If you're looking for a monitor to stop doing just that Ocusheild provide those too.

Please bear in mind, I'm not medically trained nor do I have a degree. If you are having persistent problems with your eyes or headaches please see a medical professional. *This was in collaboration with Ocushield, all opinions and advice are my own, for more information please read my contact and disclaimer

Elle May

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