Gaming Glasses & Why You Should Wear Them

Prolonged use of digital screens and spending and an excessive amount of time playing video games, puts a huge strain on your eyes. This affects not only your gaming but also your health. Gaming glasses can offer long-term protection for your eyes and make it easier for you to focus.

What are Gaming Glasses?

Gaming glasses or blue light glasses, help protect your eyes and can also help to improve gaming performance. Staring at a screen for extended periods of time can lead to headaches, eye strain, and other symptoms associated with Computer Vision Syndrome, such as dry eyes, blurred vision, disrupted sleep and retina degeneration. Gaming glasses are designed to help prevent these symptoms.

Gaming on a monitor or TV screen means your eyes are exposed to blue light. LED screens are not the only source of blue light but are the most prominent in modern lives. Although the sun may be the most significant source of blue light, we're encouraged from a young age to be wary of staring at it, the same can't be said for our screens. LED screens have become a massive part of our daily lives. Whether they're used for work or pleasure, it is almost impossible to avoid them, especially in gaming.

person using computer playing FPS game with glasses

How Do Gaming Glasses Work

Gaming glasses are designed to help block out the blue light emitted from screens and monitors. In addition to reducing the effects of eye strain, lenses with a blue light filter can also promote a better night’s sleep.

Other features of gaming glasses are anti-glare and magnification. Minimising glare will enhance colour contrast and eye focus, while lenses with good magnification reduce squinting and enable you to see the screen more clearly.

Prescription Glasses For Gaming

If you already wear prescription glasses, you can customise your current spectacles for your gaming requirements.

You can get your current glasses reglazed with blue light protection or an anti-reflective coating. Alternatively, you can choose prescription lenses when ordering your gaming glasses. This means you won’t need a separate pair of glasses for gaming and your eyes will always be protected.

Other Ways to Look After Your Eyes When Gaming

When staring at a screen, we tend to blink less often than we usually would. Blinking helps lubricate your eyes and prevents them from becoming dry or irritated. Taking frequent breaks from a screen gives you a chance to blink. Try following the 20-20-20 rule when gaming for extended periods. Every 20 minutes, take 20 seconds to look at something 20 feet away.

Another thing to consider is lighting. Staring at a bright screen in a dark room means your eyes are working harder to adjust to the contrasting levels. A well-lit room with good lighting will reduce eye strain and fatigue.

man using computer inside dark room

Many of us are guilty of sitting too close to our screens, so try to keep your distance. The general rule is to sit 1.5 to 2.5 times the diagonal length of your screen away. For example, if you're playing on a 22" screen, you should be sitting at least 3 feet away.

If you're still struggling with eye strain and dry eyes then using eye drops can help lubricate your eyes and relieve the symptoms.

Summary

Multiple studies have shown that wearing gaming glasses can significantly improve your eye health and quality of sleep. They can also help enhance your performance and overall gaming experience, so for a competitive gamer, they're definitely a worthwhile investment for you.

Spex4less has a huge collection of stylish blue light-ready glasses, so grab a pair to get the edge on the competition.