Everyone has done it: You’re lying in bed, scrolling through a newsfeed or laughing at a funny picture online. After a minute, or an hour, you turn off your screen, roll over, and close your eyes. You take a deep breath, and feel your whole body relax. An hour passes, then two, then three, as you toss and turn in your nice warm, dark room. Midnight comes, but sleep doesn’t. There are a dozen causes that could lead to insomnia, everything from caffeine to stress. As technology becomes more and more ubiquitous through our lives, researchers are looking into the effects of our computer usage on our sleeping patterns. The news isn’t good: Blue light emitted by our electronics is destroying our circadian rhythm. A lack of circadian rhythm effects our sleep cycle, our health, and how we can fix it.

Our bodies are biologically trained to sense days and nights. Before we had artificial lights, we needed to know when to be productive, when we could see, and when it was time for rest. In the age of artificial lights, and artificial stimulants such as caffeine, we choose to ignore our sense of day and night. Our bodies have not. Somewhere in the DNA, there is still an understanding that “Daytime is for working, nighttime is for sleeping.” Blue light triggers a sense that it is still daytime, and it takes a while for the body respond. Just because you’ve turned off your computer for the night doesn’t mean your body understands it’s time to sleep. Melatonin is a natural hormone that is produced in the pituitary gland, and it regulates sleep. If your circadian rhythm is off track, your body doesn’t know when to produce melatonin, resulting in chronic insomnia. In order to block blue light, shades or glasses are needed. EXYRA  has produced the next generation of glasses for that purpose.

Insomnia effects tens of millions of people in the United States alone. There are many artificial supplements that can help regulate melatonin production and sleep cycles. If you are not happy about taking pills just to get to sleep, some behavior modification can help reset your circadian rhythm, and get your sleep cycle back on track. Purchasing glasses with a blue light filter will screen out the blue light from your computer. The easiest thing you can do to increase your restfulness at night is to turn off your screens at least one hour before bed. This will give your brain a chance to reset a little, and produce melatonin naturally.

The 21st century says never to rest, never to turn off, never to check out. You cannot be the best version of you if you don’t check out once and a while. Don’t be afraid to turn off your computer before bed. If you really cannot afford to, EXYRA has developed glasses that will reduce eyestrain and improve your work life.

Every day millions of people go to work around the world, and spend the majority of their time staring in to their computer screens. Most of those people will go home with a headache, and not always caused by their boss. That’s where EXYRA comes in. Digital Eye Strain and Computer Vision Syndrome has become the focus of many scientific studies over the last twenty years. Exyra glasses are formulated to be the best eyeglasses available to combat eyestrain. As digital devices have become almost universal, the workplace has become a perfect staging ground for a new type of condition: Digital Eyestrain. In order to combat this condition, we need to understand what causes it, what its long-term effects are, and how we can manage it.

                  Any type of eyestrain is caused when your eyes are exposed to uncomfortable situations. While your computer, tablet, or phone might not seem uncomfortable to use, your eyes see things a little differently. This has to do with the entire light spectrum. The light spectrum encompasses all forms of light, visible and invisible. Some colors you see are low energy and long wavelength, such as red and yellow. Others have high energy, and short wavelengths, such as blue and purple. In the chase to find clearer and brighter colors for digital devices, manufactures have edged ever closer to the high energy visible light. This “blue light” causes your eyes to work harder to process the images you are seeing. While not as intense, the strain you are feeling on your eyes from the computer is the same strain you feel looking directly at the sun.

              So maybe your eyes hurt once in a while, every job has its draw-backs, right? Not so fast, eye pain is just one symptom. Computer Vision syndrome can lead to blurred or double vision, headaches, and even satellite pain in your neck or back. No, Computer Vision Syndrome isn’t going to kill you, but it can make a bad day exponentially worse. It is important to put a stop to it as soon as you feel the first twinge of pain in the back of your head.              

                The best way to deal with Computer Eye Strain is to modify your environment. If you are working on an old style monitor, upgrade to a new flatscreen. These have been shown to have less eyestrain for the users. It is also important to minimize glare. If you work in a bright white office, add a bit of color, something to look at while your eyes rest. Proper lighting also assists in reducing eyestrain. Optometrists can give your glasses an anti-glare coating, or if you wear contacts you can have a special pair of computer glasses ordered. Unfortunately, not everyone can make such changes to their workplace, or even afford them. Low cost solutions anyone can do include being sure to blink more, or get up a few times an hour to give your eyes something else to focus on.  

              You have to go to work, there’s no way around it. However, work doesn’t need to give you a headache. EXYRA has the perfect pair of glasses waiting for you. Take care of your eyes, and they will take care of you